Be My Amour
by Cho 17
Summary: AU. Link is to be named the future king of Hyrule after completing senior year at a local PUBLIC school. There he meets Midna, the mysterious former princess of the Twilight Realm. Love blossoms and trouble ensues. Is their love stronger than their duty?
1. Chapter 1

**_Be My Amour_**

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. It has nothing to do with the official production of the series. I do not own any of The Legend of Zelda game titles, or anything else that pertains to the name because it all belongs to Nintendo. I do own the content of my story.

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_**Chapter 1: The Beginning **_

**HYRULE GAZETTE**

_**The end of a timeless charade**_

_Throughout Hyrule's history, from the very beginning, there existed a consistency. This consistency liked to be masked in the many legends that surrounded the creation of Hyrule and the golden relic that the kingdom housed. In these legends, though countless and different, the consistency was in three people chosen by fate's own hands. These peoples' destinies were intertwined and ultimately the outcome of their hardships either basked Hyrule in an age of prosperity or turned it into a land of darkness. Though the legends changed, the motif of the three sides of the triangle remained. The three sides mirrored the inner workings of the goddesses' minds as good, evil, and indifference in the forms wisdom, power, and courage. The strife between good and evil is ultimately displayed within the three bearers in a battle that rages on from generation to generation. As such, so do the descendents of the Triforce's protectors Zelda, Ganon, and Link. There's one born each generation and seldom do they ever coexist within in the same time frame. However, on the rare occasions that they do, the age old battle rages forth…_

"Link," his sister's angelic voice broke through his concentration like a knife piercing through his flesh. He lowered his massive book, which happened to be a collection of major newspaper headlines regarding Hyrule's history, in favor of looking at the golden haired girl who sat across from him. She smiled sweetly in that sisterly way she always did and said, "Tell me that you don't plan on reading the whole trip back to Castle Town. I would die from boredom." Link sighed and looked at her with an exasperated expression.

"Oh Zelda. You hardly relish my company as it is! Why does this trip have to be any different?" He questioned. He adjusted his thinly framed glasses so that they sat high on the bridge on his nose as he ignored his older sister's pleading look. Zelda reached over and laid a hand on his leg, rubbing it lovingly.

"This time _is_ different little brother. This time, you stay behind while I go preserve our wonderful relations with our allies. Oh, it won't be any fun without you there!"

"… I beg to differ. You hardly notice me when I'm with you anyway." They sat staring at one another silently.

"…Link, that's beside the point! I'm going to miss you anyway despite the things you say and excuses you make! Now let me miss you!"

"…I suppose. If it can't be helped…" Zelda smiled sweetly and sat with her back fully against her seat. The young woman clasped her hands together excitedly and exclaimed, "Yes! I will definitely miss you! Will you miss me?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Well, why not?"

"You do realize we wouldn't have to be 'missing each other' if we didn't go through with this whole thing…," her brother answered reasonably, "But since you aren't easily persuaded, I'm going to enjoy this time apart. That way, there's more of a guarantee that I won't have to endure anymore of your atrocious ideas." Zelda sat staring at him in disbelief before she giggled gently. Link scrutinized her with his royal blue eyes, hating the fact that she couldn't decipher his upfront insult from a rude joke. Zelda never took him seriously and always felt the need to protect him. It was enough to irk him to the point that he really did dread her company. Especially now that she insisted he enroll in a public high school to have him dwell among the commoners he'll one day in the near future be ruling over. It was part of an elaborate scam of hers to leave Link behind while she participated in glamorous parties with her allies in order to "maintain the peace" between nations. Link believed she wanted to better enjoy herself without worrying about how his company was affecting her social status. After all, his phlegmatic personality didn't mesh well at all with miss social butterfly's graces.

"Oh, Link! You're sarcasm enthuses me to no end! I'll miss it as well!"

"…It wasn't meant to be entertaining…"

"Come on now little brother! This brooding of yours is most unbecoming. It will only be a year Link. Then you'll graduate and assume the throne. How do you expect to be a good king without knowing how your people live? This pilgrimage is nothing new. Mother and father had to endure it as have I. It'll make you a wiser man and a better ruler."

"Or so you say… Why can't I just do as I've been doing? I've traveled to each of the four corners. I've seen the way they live… Nothing to brag about. Not only that, but reading teaches a lot of things," Link debated as he held his book up for emphasis, "I doubt that I lack any kind of wisdom." His big sister smiled sweetly and pushed the book back down. She took his masculine hand into her own feminine one and rubbed it gently with her thumb. The honey haired, blue eyed beauty held a saccharine gaze with her brother as she formed the right words to say in order to convey the importance of his rendezvous.

"Link… you're young. I won't say that you aren't mature for someone your age but… there's only so much a book can teach you. Trust me on this. This trip is for the best." Zelda ended her statement by placing a chaste kiss on her brother's cheek and ruffling his blonde hair causing his short locks to look uncomely and wild, more so then they already were. Link sighed heavily.

"Do you have to be such a pain?"

"Oh now, now Link. You know I wuv ya to pieces!" Link sighed again but this time he smiled as he turned to look out the window of the carriage. He watched the green scenery of the country pass by like a wave rolling in the sea. Silently he thought, _"Maybe this change is for the best… or not."_

When the royal duo finally arrived in Castle Town that same night, Zelda helped her younger brother settle into their newly renovated castle by having the servants put his heavy baggage away in an orderly fashion within his new bedroom. Link tried to distract himself from his misfortunate reality by loosing himself within the thick text he'd begun to read vehemently. Every time Zelda looked his way, he made it a point to look the other direction seemingly too busy to assist her. After a good amount of his belongings had been stowed away, his sister sat with him in his new, luxurious bedroom. She inhaled the room's new room smell before saying with a shaking voice, "Well… I guess this is it…" Link glanced up from his book slightly to see tears glisten threateningly in Zelda's crystal blue eyes and her bottom lip tremble mercilessly.

"Oh Zelda… it's not so bad. I like the new look. Very modern in a figurative manner of speaking…," he said with a slight cocky edge to his every word. The elder of the siblings frowned and huffed in a visual display of her annoyance.

"I'm not talking about the castle Link! I won't be seeing you for a whole year! We've never been separated this long! OH! I'm gonna… I'm gonna…"

"Please don't cry!"

"T…t…t… too late!" Zelda doubled over and covered her face as her body shook from the intensity of her sobs. Link sighed and went over to his distraught sibling wrapping a muscular arm around her in a loose, comforting embrace. They sat that way for a few moments more before Link pulled away after Zelda ceased her melodramatic tears. She pulled on her brother's cheek lovingly and said, "You're growing up so fast… Pretty soon you'll be finding a girl, ruling Hyrule, and then getting married…"

"…Whatever. I'm tired."

"Well. I won't see you when you wake up so I'll say it now. Have fun at school and lots of love to you baby bro!" Link nodded and Zelda looked at him a little more before she exited the room with more tears cascading down her cheeks.

As Link laid in his massive king sized bed waiting for sleep to claim him, thoughts about the swiftly approaching future haunted him. He didn't know what to expect, not from himself, his sister, his soon-to-be peers, or most importantly the outcome of this future. How would Zelda act without Link's shadow hanging over her, preventing her from doing anything to jeopardize the kingdom? How was he going to act without having his sister's shining personality to shield him from the chore of having to socialize himself? And he highly doubted that he would be able to connect with any of his peers. Not because of his social status but mostly because he was a book worm that lacked social skills. As he sat tucked under his forest green comforter, he felt his stress take its toll on him and he began to perspire. He threw the covers back and turned on his side, closing his eyes tight, begging mercilessly for sleep to come save him from such plaguing thoughts. Sleep didn't answer his call until two o'clock in the morning, which left him only five hours of sleep.

When he awoke, his stomach turned over threateningly, mimicking his unspoken dread to start the day. After showering, dressing, and eating breakfast by himself, the teenager was on his way out when he spotted a note on a cherry wood corner table near the main entrance. Looking over it, he was surprised to see his sister had audacity enough to write such a letter. It read:

_Have a good first day! Don't be mean to the other kids, focus on the curriculum, and learn something! Left ya a present! Hope ya like it! See ya soon!_

_Love your big sister,_

_Zelda_

"Yea… right…" Link mumbled and he balled the letter up to stuff in his pocket. He was however curious as to what the present could be. When Link left through the front doors that separated the castle from the rest of the city, he was surprised to see his sister's bodyguard, Ashei, standing beside an extravagant looking carriage seemingly waiting for him.

"Ashei… what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Zelda," the boy questioned with uncertainty. Ashei wasn't too much older then Zelda, but that meant that she was a significant amount of years older then Link and so didn't like to be questioned as though they were on the same level. Link almost regretted asking, he knew Ashei's personality. Being separated from society to train in the mountains with her father, it was easy to see why it was the young woman lacked proper people skills and tended to handle things in her own accord, which usually meant violence never mind the fact that you were the next crowned ruler of Hyrule or if you were an unsuspecting victim. Surprisingly, Link hadn't pushed her buttons like he unknowingly did on many occasions, and Ashei responded almost humanly.

"Your sister told me that I had to stay behind and watch over you, yeah? So get in, I'm taking you to school, yeah?" Link's mouth dropped opened in his disbelief and he nearly dropped his book bag in surprise. So, this was Zelda's present huh?

"Uh… n…no Ashei. Tha… that won't be necessary…," he stuttered because he knew it was futile for him to openly defy her. Ashei always obeyed her boss's (Zelda's) orders and made sure that they were carried out. The dark haired knight sighed in her annoyance and opened the carriage door pointedly.

"Get in prince. Your sister wanted me to watch over you today, so I'm taking you to school where I'll be at easy reach, yeah. Don't make me tell you again…" Link gulped nervously as he noticed her hand subconsciously dance around the hilt of her sword as emphasis to her point. Still, he shook his head.

"No. I mean, it's not necessary to take the carriage, Ashei… can't we just walk like normal people? Uh, not that you and I aren't normal _with_ the carriage but…"

"Whatever young prince," she said and slammed the carriage door shut. She grabbed Link by the arm and forcefully pulled him along in the direction of the school. Link pulled the collar of his shirt up in an attempt to hide from the curious eyes of city goers as he was manhandled all the way to the school building.

While the young prince wallowed in his self pity, dreading the fact that he'd be spending the year living as a civilian and possibly in the company of a psychotic knight, one of his fellow "civilians" was content with the new change in her own life. Midna sat on the school's stone stoop, which overlooked the familiar morning panic of the city goers as they walked about in a rush. She inhaled the comforting city smells and a small smirk formed in her rose tinted lips. It'd been a year now since she had arrived in Hyrule. Here she was content with all the pandemonium going on around her, taking it as a sign that she was lucky to be alive. Here was her sanctuary. She didn't try to remember the past, nor cared to. Nothing in Castle Town forced her to look back into such a haunted past either. She lived in the now, taking her days as easily as they came, and she loved it all. But, despite her new found bliss, there was the tiniest flicker of guilt eating at her conscience and was only present because, though she was happy, she knew that the past would come back to destroy her as she had let it destroy them…

"Hey, Midna!" The red haired female turned to look at the person who called out to her and smiled when she recognized her friend, Tetra, coming her way, along with over a dozen others getting ready for school. Midna stretched lazily and stood from her crouched position.

"Are you always here this early?" Tetra asked.

"I'm only here now because Telma was starting to irk me and I needed to get out," Midna said in her accented Hylian. No one seemed to mind Midna's accent because it wasn't a big deal, and so no one bothered to ask why she possessed it. So no one knew that it was because Hylian was her second language; that she had learned to speak only through hearing the words spoken by others. Tetra nodded her understanding and motioned for her friend to follow her inside with the rest of their peers. Midna obliged and they maneuvered easily through the large throng of students to get to Tetra's locker.

"Hey guys!" The two turned to see their friend Aryll struggling to get over to them. Once she finally managed to fight her way through the masses, her hair was crazy and her school clothes had gotten wrinkled.

"Whoa," was the only thing her two buds could muster. Aryll waved off their comment and proceeded to crease the wrinkle in her skirt.

"Any of you guys seen Ivan around? We got into an argument yesterday and I haven't seen him since vacation…," the soft spoken girl started.

"No," Midna answered for the both of them, "Why do you put up with him?" The dirty blonde merely shrugged and sighed in her defeat. Midna and Tetra exchanged concerned looks as they both worried for their friend. Aryll and Ivan had been an item since freshman year and just recently their relationship was, simply put, on the fritz. The Twilight Princess couldn't see the logic behind it. The two of them broke it off and got back together. One minute they hated each other, the next they couldn't get enough of one another. They were only in high school. That meant that relationships weren't to be taken as seriously as Aryll tried to make her and Ivan's. At the first sign of trouble, Midna would've left him and moved on.

"_You always were good at running away…,"_ a voice taunted in her head. Midna shook it off and ignored it. Smiling, the young red head laid a comforting hand on Aryll's shoulder.

"Don't worry. Knowing him… he'll be begging to get back together with you before school's out today," she offered. Tetra nodded in agreement causing Aryll to smile.

"I guess you're right… I just wish I could be more like you guys… Free to be with whom ever you choose or not…"

"Well… what's stopping you?" Tetra asked.

"You know Tet. She thinks she's in _love_," Midna answered. She elbowed Aryll in her side, grinning when she noticed how the young girl began blushing involuntarily.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys later. I gotta go fix my hair…," she told. She waved "bye" and skipped to the bathroom, dodging her pushy classmates in order to avoid getting her hair and clothing ruined anymore then necessary.

"She's so whipped," Tetra stated and Midna nodded her agreement then both of them decided to traverse the long hallway to get to their first period.

"Anyway, I was thinking that I'd hook up with Shad… what do you think?" Tetra asked.

"Do whatever you want. I'm going neutral. Boyfriends cause way too much drama."

"Hm."

"What?"

"Yeah right Midna. There's bound to be someone you want here. When isn't there?" Midna felt the heat rise to her cheeks from her embarrassment, but she refused to give Tetra the satisfaction of being right.

"Correction. The guys want _me_," she said cockily, flipping some hair over her shoulder for the added effect.

"My bad. But you act like you can't tell them no."

"Whatever. I'm not going to mess around with anyone this year, and you'd be wise to follow my lead before you end up like poor Aryll."

"Ouch." Midna didn't apologize for her crude comment and walked into the classroom, turning heads as she did so, nonchalantly taking a seat in the back of the room. Tetra followed suit and smiled flirtatiously at Shad, who sat near the front of the room with his friends. Midna ignored their exchange as she still heated by Tetra's accusation. If being so attractive that boys wanted to be with you all the time was a crime, then so be it. Midna was guilty as charged. But it wasn't like she needed them to sustain herself. She could do without them. She didn't deny any boy that asked to be her guy because she found that Hylian boys were quite good looking. Well, they were a lot better looking then Twili guys and Midna had a weakness for beauty.

"Hey Midna," a male student greeted as a suggestive smirk played on his lips.

"Get lost." The command was so forceful and full of authority that the boy backed off without another word. Midna huffed in irritation and crossed her arms. She turned her eyes away from every guy in the room that looked upon her lustfully. Then… she saw him. The most handsome man that she had ever laid eyes upon entered the room. Her breath caught in her throat. He looked at her for a split second before taking an empty seat in a solitary desk near the corner of the room. He slouched and buried his face in his hands, letting his blonde locks fall lusciously into his sweet face. Midna took a deep breath having realized that she had forgotten to breathe since he entered. He lifted his head and sat in his chair easily now.

"So cute…," she mumbled.

Link had rushed to class and looked around for the first empty desk he saw; one in the corner of the room caught his eye. Taking it, he buried his head in his hands to take a deep breath. He had reigned victorious and now had enough time to revel in his triumph. Getting rid of Ashei had not been an easy task. In fact, it had been so much work and had been so grotesque that the details of it are not to be described dear reader or you'll be haunted by tormenting nightmares. Just know that no one will be scarred for life, well, not with a little therapy. Link breathed and sat up in his chair smiling a little. Unbeknownst to him, he had gotten the attention of every student in the class. They all seemed curious and watched him intently. This was not something he needed. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had a faint tingling on his spine. Someone's gaze was really intense. Turning slightly to his right, he saw a beautiful young lady staring at him. He'd never seen any maiden in all of Hyrule possess her looks; it was almost eerie. Her eyes were so focused on him that he began to feel subconscious and he looked away from her abruptly. He still felt her eyes on him even after the teacher entered the room and class began.

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**A/N**: Yeah. How many of you remember this little story? Well, probably not many cuz I did take it down pretty quick... But I haven't given up on it as you can see. In fact, it's nearly complete. All I have to do is type it up. Anyway, please review! But let me reiterate this fact: keep in mind that yes I know this is pretty different from your average Zelda fic, and yes I will probably be scorned for it but when have any of my stories followed the norm I ask you? If you don't like different then stray away from here! In fact, don't even tell me what you think! Cuz it means absolute bull to me! 

But the rest of you open minded people can review. :-P


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted **_

_**The end of a timeless charade continued…**_

_This is Hyrule's 250th Year as a successful country complete with peace on all sides with the alliances of its neighbors. This year, there is a Link and Zelda present as well as a Ganon. However, the Link is not a born descendent of the Hero's bloodline. He is actually Princess Zelda's younger brother, and future king of Hyrule. Ganon is no evil, magician thief, but the king of the Gerudo, who dwell in the desert province. What an inconsistency within our midst. Never before has Hyrule been more glorious and prosperous than now. Never before has the Royal Family bore more than one child. Never before has a Link, a Zelda, and Ganon resided at the same time without havoc being wracked upon the nation. Could this be the goddesses' declaration of peace to a perpetual war? Only time will tell…_

"Meow, who's the new guy? He's cute!" Midna inquired. It was lunch time now and she sat with Tetra and Aryll at their usual spot in the cafeteria. Tetra chuckled knowingly and said in a matter-of-fact way, "Don't get any ideas Midna. He's supposedly some kind of rich kid that got kicked out of his old school. Nothing but trouble." This response only added to Midna's growing interest. She watched Link from the corner of her eye and grinned.

"So, he's a bad boy huh? Delectable. I think I'll go introduce myself…" She stood up from the table and proceeded to walk over to where Link sat with his nose stuffed in a book. She ignored Tetra's and Aryll's disapproving cries and took a seat adjacent to the oblivious prince.

"Hello. I'm Midna. You're new here right?" It wasn't in Midna's nature to sit around idly. She was a woman of action that caught people's attention easily. So she was surprised when Link openly ignored her. Pushing her feeling of rejection to the side, she tried again, "I'm talking to you, you know." Link glanced up from his reading and sighed.

"I know. It's just, I already know that I'm a new student. I didn't think it'd be so _obvious_ to everyone else," he told with sarcasm dripping off his every word. The Twili's eyes widened in surprise as she was taken aback slightly by Link's frankness.

"Hey, there's no need to get prissy. I was just saying hi. Ya know, I was being what they call 'nice.' Maybe you've heard of it."

"Hm."

"So. What's your name?" The girl questioned as she tried to suppress her steadily growing temper. The boy turned his attention back to his book, as though finding the contents within the print on the page more interesting than her. Midna thought that he wasn't even going to answer.

"…Link," he replied almost reluctantly. Midna gasped a little, earning her a look from the boy next to her. Clearing her throat easily in an attempt to mask her surprise, she said, "Wow. What a powerful name. I thought for sure it'd be something else like Colin or Ralf." Link's eye brow rose curiously.

"Why's that?"

"Well, because you look like a pushover. But I guess I'm mistaken?" Link grunted a little and returned his gaze to his book.

"Whatever…"

"I have a second cousin named Link. You know that's a really popular name. But out of all the boys it's given to, only one is actually destined for greatness." Link's eyes traveled curiously from the text once more in favor of connecting with Midna's own ruby ones. They sat looking at one another for a few moments and Link felt like there was a secret meaning behind her words. Instinctively he hid his left hand from view and then he began to hastily gather his belongings.

"…As delightful as this conversation has been… I fail to see any point in it so I'm going to leave now…" Midna watched him, and a feeling of spite overtook her. Who was he to declare that she was stupid enough to come up with pointless conversation?

"Pointless?! Hmph! … Oh. That's strange…" The boy stopped what he was doing in order to look at her. She smirked a little and then looked at him critically, like he had something on his face.

"What is?" He asked. Midna cocked her head and leaned in close to him. Link backed up instinctively and felt his cheeks heat up from his discomfort. Midna didn't seem to notice.

"Hm? Oh no, no… you probably don't want to hear about it. It's probably too _pointless_." The toothy smile that filled her lovely face should have been enough evidence for Link to know she was lying, but he was captivated by her and wanted to know anyway.

"Well you might as well tell me. The conversation is already started." The pale skinned girl giggled a little and took a few steps from him.

"Okay… From a far you look like a proper and attractive, young gentleman… but up close…"

"Up close?" Midna was once again invading his space, inevitably popping his invisible bubble with her closeness. She was so close that he felt her hot breath against his cheek when she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Up close… you're an asshole." Link's eyes widened in surprise and he looked at her. She smiled once more and said, "Nice meeting you, _Link_." The prince watched her as she walked back to her table with so much grace that it almost seemed that she was floating. He touched his cheek trying to savor the feel of her soft lips brushing against his bare flesh. He'd never been called a derogatory name before, especially not by someone who was a little ways down the ladder of mobility. As he regained equanimity, he found that he was smiling at Midna despite himself and then he left the cafeteria.

"So?" Aryll questioned gettily. Shrugging a little, Midna replied, "His name's Link. That's all I know."

"I knew you were gonna mess around!"

"Shut up!"

Link left the cafeteria following the giant wave of students as they flooded into the main hall to socialize before they had to be off to their next classes. His eyes surveyed the crowd and immediately fell on Midna. She was talking to a guy and was completely oblivious to Link's scrutinizing gaze. What were they talking about? The young prince wished he had the super hearing suddenly despite the fact that he didn't really care for his new acquaintance. Not in the least. Turning his attention away from the captivating girl, he wasn't prepared for the ringing of the bell to cause a massive stampede of students hurrying to their classes. He was being pushed along none too gently until he collided into someone. The force of the impact was enough to cause him to stumble and make the other person fall to the ground.

"My deepest apologies!" Link said, bending over and offering a hand to help the person up. His hand was met with that of a smaller and much more petite one. The girl he helped up smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcomed… Illia?" The girl stopped dusting her clothes and looked at him. Her mouth widened in surprise as a look of familiarity crossed her facial features.

"Link? Oh wow! What a pleasant surprise! I'd never thought I'd find you mingling with the common… Do you go to school here now?" Link blushed and bashfully looked away from her for a moment before answering, "… Just for the year."

"Neat! This is so great! I haven't seen you ages! How have you been?"

"… I'm still living."

"And you're as livid as ever."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're blue aren't you? For having to come here?" Link thought about it for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "No. I was answering your question…" Illia looked at him with a smirk and narrowed eyes.

"Riiight. Anyway, we'd better cut this short or we'll be late to class. Right your highness?" She turned but not without a proper curtsy and proceeded on her way to class. Stopping, she turned around again and said, "See ya 'round" and then continued on her way. Link watched her and he felt himself bristle.

While Link got acquainted with his new classmates, his sister suffered judgmental looks from the sages that she stood before.She forced a smile on her rosy lips and bowed courteously.

"Rise young Princess," ordered a booming voice that belonged to one of the sages and Zelda obliged.

"How have you all been doing lately?" She asked to make polite conversation as well as break the icy mood that had blown over them all with the sages' melodramatic tone. The apparitions before her grumbled their responses with inaudible murmurs.

"Princess, let us not delay anymore time than necessary. Have you found the key to the Twilight yet?"

"…No… I've been busy, you know, running a country, keeping the peace, and helping to prepare my little brother for his kingship. My hands are full!" The girl proclaimed. The sage shook his head and sighed.

"You are the seventh sage princess. Your main priority in the present time should have nothing to do with such trivial matters… You are the Caretaker of the Realms. The Princess of Destiny. Your main job is to keep the peace between the realms. Let Link worry about the kingdom… he is not of supernatural blood. His destiny is connected with that of the world… He's of no consequence. And princess, let me remind you what will happen if the key to the Twilight remains here in Hyrule. The worlds will collide, and neither will exist except within a mere stream of consciousness to those whose lives are tied with fate's own hands. There will be no Hyrule or Twilight realm if this inconsistency is not fixed princess! Do you understand?"

"… Yes. But how do I find this key to the Twilight?"

"First, seek the mirror. There your journey begins." Right. A mirror. It was such a simple and easy task, only there was one trivial, tiny little hiccup of a problem. There were millions of mirrors in the world! Given, most of them weren't magical keys that connected two worlds together, but still. Zelda sighed and bowed once more in compliance. Suddenly, she felt weary stricken.

"_Ugh… what I wouldn't give to be in your shoes right now little brother…,"_ she thought to herself silently.

The clock read 15:30, and school ended at 16:30. The hour difference was enough to let a wave of relief wash over Link because he knew it wasn't long before school let out, but it also served as a painful reminder that he did indeed have an hour left to survive. The students weren't mean to Link, and the teachers were polite. No one seemed to recognize him as the heir to the throne of Hyrule, which was lucky because it'd be rather awkward to have to explain why he was attending public school. And all in all, the day had been going by smoothly. But all those factors didn't change the fact that Link wanted the day to be over with already anyway. He sat in the crowded class room, eyeing the clock as though he had the power to manipulate time, which would truly and honestly be a good talent to possess he decided. Besides, in some legends he had read so eagerly about, there were times when the hero chosen by fate's hand had indeed managed to control time. At thinking of this, his mind regurgitated Midna's taunting voice.

"_But out of all the boys it's given to, only one is actually destined for greatness." _Was it truly the name that marked the bearer? Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked back at the clock. 15:40. Only ten minutes had passed.

"Oh goddesses!" He cried.

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A/N: Yay! Chappie number 2! Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought! 


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Nice to See You Again**_

"Okay! Okay Ashei! I'm sorry for leaving you behind yesterday!" The royal heir cried out. Aforesaid Ashei had the young prince in a vice grip so tight around his neck that his face was turning a sick blue color. Link was trying all he could to wiggle his way out of her grasps but that only made the knight hold on tighter.

"What if something had happened to you, yeah?" At this Link thought to himself, _"It can't have_ _been anything worse than what you're doing to me now…"_ Ashei tightened her grip on him again in order to lift him up over her shoulder and slam him into the ground. Link whimpered girlishly in a vocal display of his discomfort from the action.

"Her majesty would blame me!" The Amazon grabbed the unguarded prince by the scruff of his collar and proceeded to drag him out the front door and onward to school. As his butt was scrapped mercilessly against the pavement, creating a terribly uncomfortable burning sensation in his rear through the light fabric of his slacks, Link thought of how it would look if was accompanied by this mad woman with a hole in the rear of his pants. He concluded that it wouldn't look good at all.

"H… Hey listen. Nothing's going to happen to me alright?"

"You aren't Madame Fanari. You can't predict the future." Link bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing because it was no secret that Madame Fanari couldn't predict the future either. She was just your average scam artist that was trying to make a living in the world by fiddling in the lives of other people. It was a shame that one such person had him by his collar.

"I don't have to be a fortune teller to know that I'm in no sudden danger Ashei. No one knows who I am. And if no one knows who I am then I'm not in any danger." At this, the abusive protector stopped pulling the prince along to look at him thoughtfully.

"I don't know…" She said uncertainly. Link smiled up at her as reassuringly as he knew how.

"If it would make you feel any better, you could keep a low profile and tail me if you wish. But don't let people find out who I am otherwise I really will be targeted for harm." The woman nodded her head showing her slow compliance with Link's wishes. Slowly she let go of his shirt and the boy hopped up jovially.

"Thanks Ashei."

At school Midna was once again turning heads as she walked through the halls on her way to her first hour class. She was accompanied by her usual companions, Tetra and Aryll, and the three of them were in the middle of a discussion that made Midna want to ball up and fall through a bottomless pit that led to some black hole out on the edges of space where no other being could find her.

"Bleck! He gives me a stomach ache and makes me want to lie over and just fall dead right on the spot!" Ah yes. How she extremely loathed his very being… That stuck up, drop dead gorgeous bookworm Link. The reason for her hateful spite was for naught as far as her friends could tell. What they had seen of the exchange between the two the previous day was hot and tensing. Midna and Link had gotten so close to one another that any bystander would be inclined to believe that maybe, just maybe, something like a magnetic attraction was going on between them and neither hated it. Rather it was the opposite. Tetra and Aryll certainly weren't fooled by Midna's little charade. And they were wise not to go against their better judgment.

"Yeah… I guess he does sound like an ass…," Tetra agreed halfheartedly with Midna's earlier recap of the exchange between her and Link, "But… he's a cute ass." To this, Midna grinned and laughed.

"Oh yeah. What an understatement!" Tetra and Aryll looked at each other knowingly and then they all entered the classroom, taking their designated seats in the center of the room where everyone could see them and didn't try to stop staring openly.

"He's the first guy to turn you down…," Aryll observed timidly. At this her friend looked at her with a cross expression and an aggravated huff escaped from her lungs. Then, as though remembering who she was, she simply pushed some of her glossy red hair out of her face and over her shoulder so that her coy smile could be seen.

"But I wasn't coming on to him Aryll," she told simply.

"Hm," Tetra hummed while crossing her arms causing Midna to look at her incredulously.

"I wasn't! I was honestly taking a stab at the courteous classmate thing. He's too stuffy to be my type of guy."

"And yet here we are talking about him."

"… No _you're_ talking about him! _I'm_ done." As she said this, the aforementioned prince entered the room looking like he was winded. This was do to the fact that he tried to create some distance between himself and his bodyguard who was so close at his heels that he wondered if she actually understood what the term "tail" meant. Taking a deep breath, he was a little anxious to see that the room had filled up so fast and he was in dire need of a chair before he collapsed from over exertion. Tetra noticed this and also noticed the empty desk beside her. She looked at her friends and found Aryll playing with some of her hair as she watched Link curiously while Midna eyed him like a hungry lioness wanting to make a kill.

"Ask him to sit over here." Midna's nose scrunched up unattractively at the suggestion and she turned away from Link's direction abruptly.

"_You_ ask him."

"Okay. Hey! Link! There's a seat over here!" Midna nearly fell from her seat after hearing Tetra's beckoning call and she nearly died when she saw Link walking over to them. He walked confidently… well… princely was more like it Midna decided. His shoulders were squared but they came forward a little bit as though he hunched over when he sat down, which was probably the result of reading too many books. The hunch didn't make him unattractive though. In fact it gave him character and his tall stature and sure footed steps made him seem like royalty. Taking his seat, Link smiled nicely at Tetra.

"…Thanks," he nearly muttered.

"No problem," she told coolly. When Midna saw their exchange, envy filled her. How come he could be pleasant to her friends and not to her?

"Oh boy," she grounded out meanly and sarcastically. At hearing her comment, Link looked at her with his rich blue eyes and frowned slightly. This aggravated her even more. Why did he have to be so mean to her?

"Not you again. Are in all my classes?" Midna flinched involuntarily as his comment added insult to injury.

"Asshole!"

"Brilliant. How long did it take you to come up with such an intelligent comeback?" His eyebrows rose in mock curiosity and a smirk creased in his lips as though he was enjoying her irritation. Feeling overwhelmed with hate from Link's acrimonious behavior, Midna was left displaying her feelings in an incomprehensible, "… Mugfugha!!!!"

"So what school did you come from?" Turning his attention to Tetra once more, Link again smiled pleasantly and replied, "I was home schooled originally." That wasn't a lie. The prince had had his own tutor that followed him around and taught Link a lot and would still be teaching him if it wasn't for the damned family tradition that forced him to enter public school! It was just for a year though, he reminded himself and he sighed in appeasement. Tetra nodded understandingly while Midna saw this as one more chance to get him back.

"Well that explains a lot."

"I know a lot of kids that get home schooled. Did your parents home school you because they don't like the public school system?" Aryll inquired, completing ignoring Midna's comment and likewise so did everyone else. Needless to say, Midna was extremely pissed at that. Link felt his cheeks warm a little. He wanted to say that it was the opposite, that his parents adored public schooling and that was why he was even talking with them now, but he decided that that was a little too embarrassing and probably even a little revealing. Why lead them to believe he was their prince even though he was? It would just make things harder and he liked things to be simple.

"No. Not so much as it… being a tradition," he decided after a moment. Midna jumped at another opportunity.

"You must come from a long line of socially inept dolts then!" Her comment wasn't ignored this time and her friends looked at her angrily.

"Midna that's not nice!" Tetra scolded. Link put up his hand and waved it off like her comment was some insignificant insect that needed to be swatted away.

"It's fine. I won't dignify her ignorance by getting offended." To this, Midna could no longer keep her temper at a constant temperature and it simply boiled over.

"Why you…!! Hmph!" She got up from her seat and left her friends to find sanctuary in the back of the classroom.

"Hello forgotten dust bunny. At least you still like me… Not that you liked me before… Well, skip you too then !! You don't have to like me cuz I don't like you neither!" The three of them watched her for a moment with worry before facing the front.

"Don't mind her. She's harmless," Aryll stated with a sweet smile on her face.

"So where'd you say you were from?" Tetra asked. Link smiled at them and adjusted his spectacles. He enjoyed Tetra's and Aryll's company he decided. They were both intelligent and attractive young ladies. He wished he could say the same for Midna but somehow all she seemed to do was get angry and insult him with childish and ignorant words at that. In short, her personality defied her outer beauty or at least from what he'd seen of her so far. Despite that, he was still drawn to her in some unseen way by some invisible force. She was very intriguing indeed…

After class, Link hung out with Tetra and Aryll who just so happened to have the same classes as him. Midna didn't and it was kind of relieving yet disappointing that he wouldn't see as much of her as he'd like to. How much of her he wanted to see, he had no idea. When it was finally lunch time, versus sitting alone nonchalantly like he had before the previous day, Tetra and Aryll invited him to sit at their table. He was raised with manners so he knew it was impolite to decline and besides, he could try it. How harmful could it be?

He was introduced to the other table occupants, such as Aryll's boyfriend Ivan, a buff teen with a definite gangster persona about him, but he was well behaved so Link wasn't as nervous around him as he should've been; Coro, a funny looking guy with a giant fro on his head; unlike Ivan he was approachable at the get go what with his laid back attitude and cool personality; Nayru, another beautiful girl who Link was attracted to immediately; she was so convivial and majestic with her calmness; he was a little disappointed but not surprised to meet her boyfriend Ralf, a guy Link guess lacked in "manliness" because he seemed to be on the defensive whenever anyone (guy) looked at him or his girl; Din, a rather poignant female with great sex appeal who had Link burning with desire with a mere look; Shad, someone Link felt like he would be able to relate to easily being that he was a bookworm almost as much as he himself was; and Illia, who knew him all to well. After they shook hands in greeting, Link's hand was a little damp with perspiration at seeing her, the emerald eyed girl smiled secretively.

"What are you looking like that for?" Shad inquired when he noticed their exchange. Link was hesitant to answer, but Illia forked a little bit of her salad and smiled at him before saying easily, "We've already been acquainted _way_ before he started attending East Hyrule Academy." Everyone at the table looked at Link for confirmation and he felt his face warm. How could he tell them that he and Illia only knew one another because he and his family used to vacation at the Ordona Providence every summer on their way to delegations in that half of the kingdom? Why was she so opened about it? He supposed she was happy to know that she knew his secret and no one else did… Getting up abruptly, he grabbed Illia's arm and pulled her away to some place secret. He couldn't have her spoil things by revealing his secret to everyone! Unbeknownst to him, his strange behavior made the table gossip in their wake. And they already concluded that he and Illia knew each other from Ordona since Illia didn't know anyone from _way_ _back_ that attended East Hyrule Academy because she grew up in Ordona and recently started attending the eastern branch of schooling freshman year so everyone she grew up with and knew from _way back_ was in Ordona. They concluded this in exactly thirty seconds time and Link had no idea that it was as easy as that to find him out.

Finally out of hearing range of any other living person, i.e. in the bell tower on the school roof, Link decided he was safe enough to talk with his childhood friend. She looked at him innocently and Link noticed that she had grown up nicely. She was curvy and her bust was a nice size. She had full rosy lips that Link couldn't help but imagine himself kissing, but he quickly pushed such thoughts aside with a shake of the head. Truth be told, maybe it wasn't so much that she was gloating to have known him and his secret as it was that she was just proud to know him and happy to see him again. After all, after Link and Zelda's parents died, he hadn't seen her. That was some years ago. They hadn't seen each other in a long time.

"Your highness, is there something the matter?" Link shook his thoughts away with another shake of the head.

"No… well… yes. There is. I realize that we haven't seen each other in a while and that you're happy to see me, just as I'm happy to see you, but I don't think it's wise to disclose the details of our relationship…" To this Illia's one brow arched curiously and she looked at him in confusion.

"What… do you mean?" She looked cute. He didn't want to hurt or embarrass her by saying what he needed to say so he rubbed a hand through his hair and inhaled a breath before telling her, "It's not that I'm ashamed of knowing you, actually it's quite relieving to know that I've got someone here with me that I trust and know as well as you, but I don't think that you should reveal our past to everyone else because I don't want anyone finding out that I'm the heir to the kingdom. It would make this public school thing even harder than it is already. So what I'm trying to say is, Illia, can we keep this between us?" The blonde watched him quietly for a moment before smiling brightly and nodding vigorously.

"Of course I'll keep your secret, your highness. No need to look so distressed. We are friends after all." To this Link smiled softly.

"Yes. We are… By the way, you grew up nicely. You're very pretty Illia." The girl turned a bright pink color that made Link chuckle a little. He held his hand out and Illia took it. When their flesh touched, something within the both of them ignited and a jolt shot through them. Illia tried to pull away but Link tightened his grip. They looked at each other and saw that each was looking at the other for the first time in a long time and they each were seeing something new.

"And just what are you two doing in the bell tower?? This is a prohibited area!" Link and Illia looked up to see the flamboyant Miss Marie, the drama teacher, and the reserved Mister Lenzo, the art teacher, looking at them angrily. Just when Link was about to inquire the same about them, the two teachers pulled the students apart and dragged them back to the main building.

After the two friends had been caught in the prohibited bell tower, they had to serve a two hour detention after school that was made more bearable by the other's company. The prince realized that he was a little more accepting of his school now that he'd met a few people that were worthy of his kindness. And his change of attitude was apparent in his excellence in school material, sports, and socialization. He was first in his class after only one week and the sports teams were scouting him mercilessly when he performed unmatchable feats in the sports he played during P.E. class. Girls were beginning to become aware of him and boys were jealous or respectfully admirable of him. Midna found him to be a bigger pain in the rear than when she first met him. Now everyone was talking about him and there was no peace from it. He ate at her lunch table, her friends adored him, and now so did the rest of the school. It irked her that no one saw what a real ass crack he was. And the most irritating thing about it was that he was only an ass crack around her. Maybe it was his way of indirectly calling her a bitch since dogs liked to sniff butts, but that's completely besides the point. The point was that Midna was as livid as ever and no one seemed to care. For once.

While she was sitting in class one day watching Link spitefully as he talked to some of their female classmates, Tetra and Aryll joined her side. She'd decided to forgive them since they were the only people who genuinely cared about her and had been by her side since her arrival in Hyrule.

"Look at that cucco shit over there being all flirtatious and stuck up! What an ass!" Midna exclaimed loudly enough, she hoped, that Link could hear her. If he had, then he was making it hard to know since he was acting oblivious of her existence. She sighed sadly and Aryll patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Let it all out sweety… We know how much you love him!" Midna slammed her fist on her desk and glared at her friend.

"I don't either! I love someone else and there's no one, absolutely no one else, in my heart but him! So be quiet about that already!" Yes. It was rather sad that the only people who cared about her now were ones who couldn't be wronger about her inner workings. She didn't hate Link because she was attracted to him and he completely dissed her. She hated him because he deserved it. There was nothing behind her hatred besides that. And truly her heart did belong to another.

The king of the desert…

He may be the sole cause of her grief, her tormented past, but in truth she could never stop loving him. Ever. Even now her wretched heart ached to be held in his strong embrace… But her so called friends couldn't see that. No one knew of her anguish. Her damned love. As these thoughts invaded her mind, her eyes watered and her face had taken on a solemn expression. No one seemed to notice save Link, who had looked at her the same as she'd looked at him. Afar. And though there was apparently no one who gave a damn, he found himself curious as to what the cause was that doused her fire…

As she walked home that day, she took a different route from the norm, a sort of short cut through a skinny alleyway. Stray cats rubbed up against her leg begging for affection. She felt decidedly like they understood her better than anyone. And that was depressing enough to make her back up into a wall and slide down to the ground until her knees were to her face and she cried. The cats meowed mournfully along with her.

"Don't cry my darling. There's no reason to cry. Not anymore… Not that I've finally found you." Slowly Midna raised her head and her tear stained eyes widened in surprise.

"G…Ganondorf…?"

* * *

A/N: Duh duh duh duuuuuuuuuuuuh! Whoo! Bet you guys weren't expecting that huh? Anyway, leave me a review and I might update faster. ;-P 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Developing Friendship?**_

_Dear Link,_

_I have arrived at the desert to visit the Gerudo king, Ganondorf. I can't say that it has been a sufficiently pleasant trip what with the harsh sand storms and intense heat, but make no mistake; he will be a kind and hospitable host upon my arrival at his palace so much so that the toil will have been worth it. Our relations with these people should prove to be even better upon my departure which I'm planning for in a few weeks time. When I return, I will come check up on you! Please say you're doing well! Is Ashei taking care of you like she should be?? I'm worried…_

_Love your distressed and forever worrying sister,_

_Zelda_

_P.S. Have you made any new friends yet? It's been nearly a month and I haven't heard a thing about your classmates yet! Meanie!_

**_Dear Zelda,_**

**_I am taking the obvious hints in your last letter and am writing you back about the current state of affairs here at home, namely my life. I don't want you to worry and offend King Ganondorf. Not after all our ancestors had to go through to obtain such a peace from the desert dwellers… By the way, please give him my best regards. Now, where should I start?_**

**_I know that in my previous correspondences I've been negligent of my school life but it isn't a cause for worry sister. I haven't said anything because I didn't want to bear your inevitable taunting which I'm sure to get in your next letter after I disclose the entire goings on here… Well, when I first started attending school, I was a little awkward and had no intentions of getting to know my fellow classmates, but that changed within the first few weeks when I began, yes, talking with them. They aren't as helpless as I originally thought. I guess to sum it up, I've made a considerable amount of "friends." Namely I've grown quite close to this particular group of people. Their names are as follows: Tetra, she was the first to actually talk to me… well… not technically, but… I'll tell you about that later; Aryll, she's a dearest and I've grown quite close to her; if mother and father had lived to give us a younger sibling, I'm sure she'd be it; her boyfriend Ivan is quite a character though… I'm not really sure what to make of him, but he is good to her and it's obvious that he really cares for Aryll so he can't be all bad; Coro, he is the most… well… you have to meet him in order to get it I think; he's a great guy; Din, she's very beautiful, but don't get any ideas!; Nayru is another lovely lady, but she unfortunately dates Ralf who would be a fine guy if he wasn't so… irksome; and Shad. I think you would really like Shad because he's just like me only nicer. And basically those are my closest friends. Oh! And Illia! Yes, she attends East Hyrule Academy and we're just as tight as ever. She's grown up quite nice. You should really consider catching up with her when you return._**

**_Now, in regards to the topic I said I'd tell you about earlier in the letter, the first person to actually talk to me wasn't Tetra, but it was her friend Midna. She's gorgeous and very sassy. I think she's only sassy towards me though because I might have offended her upon our first meeting. Don't worry though, she retaliated by calling me an "asshole" very bluntly. It was… I can't even explain it. But ever since then, we've been pretty much at one another's throats. I mean, she really annoys me and I realize this whole situation could be avoided by simply ignoring her but I can't do that either. She's an enigma. And as much as I hate to say it, I want to know her better. She fascinates me and intrigues me like no one has before…_**

**_Anyway, that's that. I've nothing more to tell you. I have a feeling I have about as much of my ego left to hold on to as Gor Coron has hair left on his head after what I've told you. Please don't bruise the rest of it too badly in your reply._**

**_Sincerely your brother,_**

**_Link_**

**_P.S. Don't tell Gor Coron I said that when you visit him. He'd have my hide in a second and I refuse to get into another sumo match with him. It's painful._**

After Link reread his letter and was satisfied with its content, he slid it into an envelope that he closed with wax imprinted with the royal family's crest and headed out the door. The prince slid the envelope into a pocket of his backpack and proceeded en route to school. As he descended the steps of his grand castle, his gaze fell on that of a person waiting at the bottom. It was a female and as Link got closer, he could see that it wasn't just any female. It was Midna!

Midna smiled coyly at the expression on Link's face, which was one of pure shock, and tried to stop herself from doubling over in a fit of laughter. Instead, she settled for putting up a well manicured hand in greeting as she said, "Hello classmate!"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Link asked his confusion evident in the shaking of his usually steady voice. Midna returned her hand to her side and then she shrugged passively.

"Nice place… Though I could've sworn the castle was for the royal family only… You're the genius though. Tell me if I'm right or wrong Link. Or should I say, _Prince_ _Link_?" When Link's body stiffened at the name, she knew she had him. She had had her suspensions before but she'd just proved them to be correct. The two of them just stood looking at one another for a long moment until Link finally asked, "How'd you find out? You haven't told anyone have you?" When she heard the affliction in his voice, her equanimity vanished and she smiled at him pityingly.

"Relax. You're secret's safe with me. I mean, what else are friends for?" To this, the prince's face scrunched up like he'd eaten something sour and he looked at her incredulously. It was the first time Midna had seen an expression of character on his face. Most of the time he was laid back and nonchalant; phlegmatic. Nothing fazed him. Not until now that is.

"Friends? I thought you were my arch nemesis." The Twilight Princess felt her face warm with anger. After all, it wasn't her fault that he was always a jerk around her. She didn't understand that Link really meant to accuse her of hating him, which he wouldn't have been entirely wrong about.

"What? Whatever gave you that impression? Have I ever given you any reason to think that? If anything, _you're_ the one at fault here."

"That's…" Links stopped when he saw her glare at him and fold her arms over her chest crossly.

"Well go on. Try and deny it! But as I recall, every fight we've had has always been because of your smart ass mouth." When Link was about to object to her accusations, his words caught in his throat when he realized that she was indeed correct. But it always takes two in an argument.

"… Well maybe… But you always escalate the situation." Midna looked at him from the corner of her eye and then looked up at the sky and sighed.

"So I've got a little temper but is that such a problem? Anyway, I didn't come to debate. I came to compromise." The boy put his thumb under his chin thoughtfully and said, "State your terms…"

"Okay… It's really simple. Let's walk to school together, you know, to start over and get to be friends. How about it?"

"Okay."

"And you can't say anything that's smart alecky or mean or I get to tell everyone you're secret okay?"

"Agreed." The two teens gazed at one another observantly for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts about the strange turn of events. And then Midna smiled brightly causing Link's heart to beat erratically for a moment.

"Great! I didn't think you would be so easily persuaded!"

"Well… as you get to know me, you'll find that I'm not such an evil person." The tone of his voice seemed suggestive and Midna found herself blushing bashfully when she saw the cool smirk on his face.

"Hm? That's… that's good to know." Flipping her voluptuous hair out of her face, Midna turned away from the handsome prince in favor of heading off in the direction of the school. Link watched her for a moment, still suspicious about her sudden change in behavior and more so than that, how she came to find out about his secret, before running down the rest of the stairs to catch up with her. Ashei watched them from her spot at a window.

"Seems like trouble's brewing, yeah? Better keep an eye out for that one…"

Ashei wasn't completely wrong in her assumptions. Midna's reasons for approaching Link at his home weren't entirely out of kindness of heart. No, her abrupt change in attitude was anything but a change in heart. She was still caught in her own despair; still caught in that twilight that prevented her from moving forward or moving back. She was still in love with someone who would never truly love her the way she wanted; needed.

"_G…Ganondorf…," her voice was barely a whisper as she breathed his name. The muscular man smirked at her and opened his arms. Midna's body defied her will to stay put and she found herself caught in the embrace that she had longed for, for an entire year. Her body yearned to feel the heat of his against it. She missed him and it was evident in the way her person ached for him. The girl tucked her head under his neck. It lay on his shoulder, where she caught a whiff of his scent; sweat and sweet musk. She'd missed it. She'd missed everything about him. His arms tightened around her, his hands roaming her body obviously having missed the feel of her silky flesh as much as she missed his coarse caressing. _

"_This… this can't be real…," she whispered. A lump formed in her throat from just the thought of it._

"_But it is… It is real," he proclaimed in a husky voice. It was heavy with desire for her and he could no longer restrain himself. He pushed her away harshly and then grabbed her chin in one of his large hands and forced her head upward. His lips met hers in a coerce kiss full of passion, desire, and lust. Midna submitted willingly, nearly melting in his arms. He pulled her closer once more in order to support her. As they kissed time seemed to stand still. When they finally pulled apart, Midna looked at him dazedly, tears rolling down her cheeks._

"…_How… how did you find me…?"_

"_It wasn't easy. Not after the mirror was broken… and actually… it was extremely difficult…" His voice turned from its drunken desire to an angry growl. Midna tried to pull away but he wouldn't allow it. He grasped her arms tightly and she gasped. _

"_How could you leave me like that?? After all I've done for you! After all that I've given you!"_

"_G… Ganon… Ganondorf…"_

"_I should _kill_ you for your insolence!" He pushed her against the wall roughly and held a dagger to her throat threatening to draw blood as the sharp edge sliced through the thinnest part of her flesh. Midna closed her eyes tightly._

"_You betrayed me! You… you… betrayed… me…," she cried. Ganondorf watched her for a moment before releasing her and taking the blade from her neck. Midna dared to open her eyes and saw him look mournful with his back turned towards her._

"_I… I'm sorry… But don't you understand!? Don't you get it!? It was the only way for us to be together! I wanted to be with you! I… I…" Feeling bad for her ignorance, the princess took a slow step towards him and gently touched his shoulder. The slightest contact with her made his heart ache and roughly he pulled her close to himself once again. They stayed that way for a long time and Midna asked, "What will become of us now? Is there no escape?"_

"… _There is. We must take this throne of Hyrule. Then… then… we can be together."_

"_How?"_

"_If your love for me is truly sincere, then I need you to trust me when I tell you that… you must kill the Prince of Hyrule, Link." The girl gasped and looked at her lover in disbelief._

"_You don't mean… surely you can't be serious!" Ganondorf cupped her cheek affectionately._

"_But I am. Kill him. Either that, or become his wife. The decision is yours. Just do this for me." His voice was harsh, uncaring. Midna stared into his eyes and saw into the deep, dark bowels of his being. Tormented, relentless greed… Her heart ached. He hadn't changed. He'd only gotten worse. Her kingdom wasn't enough. He wanted Hyrule as well. It was preposterous and no doubt he would stab her in the back or hurt her some kind of way if she agreed but she couldn't deny him. She loved him._

"_Very well… I'll do it." To this, the madness that clouded his eyes parted a little and she saw a moment of genuine appreciation take its place._

"_Thank you. Midna…" They kissed again, and this time their whole being was filled with the need to be with each other. Midna slept with him and when she awoke, he was gone. Just the memory of his caress was left…_

Maybe she was wrong for starting this thing between her and Link for impure reasons but she had to do something. Besides, what Link didn't know wouldn't hurt him. At least her conscience could be at peace knowing that. And not only that, but their classmates were ecstatic to see the change. It was no secret that Midna and Link hated each others guts though their peers really couldn't understand why that was. So when they had walked to school together that one fateful Monday morning, everyone was pleased that they had finally put their differences aside and became friends. Good friends too. They talked about a lot of stuff that everyone else didn't care for or thought little about. Their growing relationship was even enough to make some people jealous. Some people being Illia.

A month after the development, Illia was green with envy. She wanted to be the one Link went to. She wanted to be the one he could joke around with. She wanted to be his one and only! And poor Fado was oblivious of the girl's foul mood. So when he asked her to meet him at the back of the school one day to confess his feelings of love for her, he had no idea that he was about to be turned down flat. Not that that had even occurred as a possibility to him. He was the school's Champion, meaning he was a great athlete that had led many of the sports teams to victory as their captain. He was desirable. Anybody would want him. Anyone but Illia and the guys that attended his school… except maybe Mr. Tingle, the history teacher. But that's a story for another time.

"I'm sorry. But I can't go out with you because… I'm in love with someone else." Her heartless words were burned into the young athletes mind for eternity. He sulked about it for days and when his friends finally asked him about his piss mood, he told them. Then his friends told some of their other friends who told some of their friends and the cycle continued until the whole high school knew about it. When Link heard, he was a little surprised and a little angry. Illia was his best friend and so he should have been aware of something like this, but she kept it to herself. It bothered him when he asked her about it and she turned red and refused to tell him who it was that she was smitten with. Midna saw her reaction and couldn't help smirking knowingly.

One day, Link was walking home after school, wondering who it could be that Illia liked. Midna joined him and immediately noticed his distracted appearance since he made it obvious when he crossed the street without waiting for the light to change and was nearly hit by a Double Decker bus. So as any good friend would, she asked, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing…," he said dreamily. Midna rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't seem like nothin' to me especially since you were almost hit by a bus."

"I was? …Who do you think Illia likes?" Midna stopped walking abruptly. Link stopped as well to look at her. Without warning, his friend doubled over in deep belly laughter unable to suppress it any longer. The prince frowned angrily.

"What's so funny?"

"You are! I mean… are you _serious_??" She said while wiping tears away from the corners of her eyes. Link's stoic expression was all she needed as an answer to her question.

"No. I'm joking."

"Was that a smart ass comment??"

"No…"

"Ugh! How can someone so smart be so dumb!? It's a damn contradiction!" She started back in the direction of their homes since Telma's bar and Link's castle were in the same direction and Link followed.

"Sorry? Are you talking about me?"

"Link. Who is it that all the girls in the high school keep talking about?"

"Uh… Fado?" He wasn't wrong. Girls were overcome with euphoria whenever the boy's name was mentioned. They simply melted into a puddle of water whenever he looked at them. And Mr. Tingle was reduced to expressing his ecstasy by talking in an incomprehensible, made up language, "Tingle, tingle kooloo ooh la la la!"

"No you dolt! Try to pay attention!" Midna's outburst startled him and he flinched, "It's you! All the girls are hung up on _you_!" Link stopped again and looked at Midna incredulously. Her expression was serious, so he came to the conclusion that she wasn't lying to him. But the most he'd heard the girls say about him was that he was good looking, and he wasn't going to argue with that. He hadn't known that they talked about him the same way that they talked about Fado. It was surprising.

"…Really?"

"Do you live in a damn box??"

"You know very well where I live." Midna pulled at her hair and growled.

"Uh! _Not_ the point! It was figurative! But anyway, the point I'm _trying_ to make is that Illia is among those who are totally enamored with your royal snobbiness." The honey haired teen continued to look at Midna dumbly.

"… You're saying that… she likes _me_?"

"Bingo!" Link took a step back as he felt a spell of dizziness hit him. Could it really be true? It wasn't so unbelievable because he suffered from low self esteem, quite the contrary actually. Link knew he was the epitome of the ideal guy, but it's one thing to be admired by someone. It's quite another to be trusted with someone's feelings of affection especially if that person is your best friend. His highness had no idea what to do with himself or more importantly, what to do about Illia. What did she like about him anyway? What did anyone like about him? He was sarcastic, egotistical, and non-empathetic.

"…Really? Why?"

"What? Why not!? You're handsome, talented, and…," she stopped short when she saw the look Link was giving her. He was listening intently, his sharp gaze focused on her as he hung onto every word that she spoke. Blushing she finished with, "… you know…" Link smirked coolly.

"You really think so?" Huffing stubbornly, she turned her back on him and said, "But more importantly _she_ thinks so. So, what are you going to do about it your royal screwedness?"

"You do realize that that's not a word don't you? And neither is snobbiness. By the way, I've been curious for some time now, what accent is that that you have?" Midna's face flushed even more and her body stiffened.

"…I… If you have that much time to pay attention to my speaking habits then you're in dire need of a girlfriend! So hurry up and get one then!" Without turning around, she ran off to her house, heart pounding in her chest. Link watched her and smiled a little to himself before continuing onward to his house where he was bone rushed by his excessively assertive bodyguard upon entry.

"AH! ASHEI!"

"You're late coming home, yeah? Punishment is now commencing…"

"N…no…NOOO!"

When Midna got home, the flabbergasted girl immediately ran to her room without greeting her caretaker. Slamming the door and putting her back against it, she took a deep breath and looked at her ceiling. What had she been thinking when she told Link those things earlier? She only told such things to her friends, not to Link! Not to his face! She shook her head to erase the memory from her mind and then touched her palpitating heart. Why had she gotten so flustered when he asked about her accent? Given, no one else bothered, and she could have been surprised by it. But she pinned it more on the fact that he was so close to finding out who she was and what her true intentions were about her befriending him.

* * *

A/N: Just to avoid some confusion, that bit about Ganondorf and Midna was a flash back. It's what happened when the last chapter ended. Anyway, thanks for reading. Now please leave a review. I thrive on reviews the way Tingle thrives on... whatever it is that keeps him the way he is. 


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: Loveable**_

"Welcome to my humble abode Princess Zelda. Please, sit and relax. I'm sure the desert was very troubling to cross. It usually is this time of year," The king said. He gestured to a seat at the side of his own magnificent throne and Zelda took it without complaint. She was truly tired. And Ganondorf's words were a major understatement. There were no words that could fully describe her exhaustion. She had to cross rough sand storms, maneuver around large fissures, battle moldorms and leevers, and had to do it all while the sun beat hellish heat rays down on her and her entourage. Fighting back the fatigue that came from just remembering her toiling venture, the young woman smiled brightly at her acquaintance and said, "Your graciousness is very much appreciated your highness. Thank you." Zelda was taught that whenever visiting another country, it was wise to treat its leader with as much courtesy as her people showed her in her own country because the fact of it was this, she's merely a quest. Her high position in Hyrule means nothing in the presence of another country's ruler. And as tiring as it was, Zelda would make sure that she upheld these values. Ganondorf brushed off her comment with a wave of one of his massive hands that glittered with gold and jewels that decorated his fingers in the form of rings.

"Your formalness is unnecessary princess. You may address me as Ganondorf." Kind of put off that her hard work to be courteous was brushed aside so easily, Zelda forced another smile and said, "Well in that case, thank you Ganondorf."

"Don't mention it princess. And thanks are not necessary. It is the right thing to do. And on that note, would you like to rest and freshen up a bit before we conduct our business? My home is your home." He bowed humbly and Zelda found herself blushing.

"Uh… that does sound nice…"

"Excellent. Aveil, could you see to our guest?" A sultry woman with long flowing red hair, a distinctive trait among the Gerudo, and golden shaded make-up stepped forward from the rest of the other women maids and bowed to her king. Zelda guessed that she was the head maid because even her clothes were different from the others.

"Of course m'lord. Please m'lady, this way." Aveil straightened up and gracefully directed her arm towards a different part of the palace. Zelda nodded her thanks to Ganondorf this time before getting up and following Aveil out of the throne room.

Zelda was given a milk bath to soften her sand dusted skin. While her clothes were being washed, she was given some temporary clothing that resembled Gerudo dress. Her midriff showed but modestly (it wasn't nearly as exposed as the rest of the palace workers) and the material of the clothes themselves was comfortable enough to make her forget she was even hindered by clothing. Some of the girls preened her as she nodded off into a light nap, brushing her hair, massaging her tense muscles, and fanning away the harsh heat with large palm tree leaves. Zelda was in heaven. She knew that the desert dwellers were anything but modest when it came to showing off their wealth, and if she could, the Princess knew she'd splurge on luxuries such as these. Maybe Ganondorf would let her buy one of his maids to take back home…

"So… how is it working for Ganondorf? Do you guys… er… girls have to do this on the daily?" Zelda asked as she was given a pedicure and manicure simultaneously. The girls giggled.

"Are you asking if he works us like this often?" One of the girls, Jolene, one of the younger ones working at the castle, and who Zelda guessed was in all actuality not even a Gerudo because of her dark hair, asked. Zelda shrugged.

"I guess. I mean…aren't there nothing but women in this country? So what I guess I'm asking is if he has you do… you know… _other_ things…" The girls laughed again.

"My, Princess Zelda you are so bold!" Another girl exclaimed.

"I don't mean to be… I'm sorry I was just curious…"

"It's okay. But in answer to your question, Ganondorf is a great king. He would never disgrace himself or his people by having them perform lowly acts. Besides, there's only one woman that he wants at his side for that purpose…" Zelda looked at Aveil interestedly then.

"You mean… he's involved with someone? Who?"

"I'm sorry m'lady, but I can't speak of it… Besides, it's more gossip than anything else. I sort of heard about it by accident…" Zelda sat up excitedly then, slightly angering the girls who were working on her feet.

"Tell me! I must know now!" Aveil looked wearily at her comrades who looked back at her expectantly.

"I… He… Please don't breathe another word of this to anyone m'lady…"

"I won't!"

"Okay… Well… I heard that his highness was seeing a princess from a foreign kingdom. The princess from another world, the Twilight Princess." Zelda gasped.

"What??"

"Shh! But yes. They met a year previously and fell in love. But after her throne was usurped by her head magician, she disappeared and he hasn't heard or seen her since…"

"Poor highness…" The girls murmured in unison. Zelda sat silently and thought about this new development. The sages were right to worry and if they were indeed correct then the Twilight Princess had fled and found refuge somewhere in Hyrule. And the why to that may be right in front of her…

After Zelda was rested, she faced Ganondorf again. He was in his study reading an old parchment.

"Ganondorf. Can I have a word with you?" The king glanced at her before returning his sharp gaze back to the page in front of him.

"Of course Princess Zelda. What is it?"

"… I understand… that you were involved with the people of the Twilight Realm… Is this true?" When Ganondorf didn't speak, Zelda felt herself grow uncharacteristically subconscious. Maybe she'd made a mistake after all… The man before her sighed deeply and then met her steady gaze with one of his own.

"What is it that you are implying princess…?"

"I want to see the mirror Ganondorf. Take me to it at once!" An evil smirk cracked in his thin lips and an equally dubious cackle erupted from his throat.

"As you wish princess. But may I implore you to take into account my hospitality and judge me based more so on it than after what you witness at the Arbiter's Grounds?"

"I'll judge you based on what I _see_ of _you_." Another cackle.

"Fair enough. Shall I arrange for transportation? It will prove to be a very treacherous venture…"

Mean while….

Oblivious to the danger his sister was in at that precise moment in time, Link walked to school in a curious silence with his best friend Midna. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, and Link wasn't bothered by it. But it was uncharacteristic. Midna was never quiet, but as of late it was rare to hear anything come out of her mouth. Link found that he desperately wanted to hear her voice again. He wanted to hear her speak in that lush accent just once so much so that he was mentally beating himself up about it. Glancing over at the young woman beside him inconspicuously, he noticed a large dark circle on her arm. It was purple and dotted with small red specks here and there. Basically, it was one hell of an ugly bruise.

"What's that?"

"What's what?" Her tone was bored; distracted. It was like she was somewhere else and had only just returned to the present because of Link's voice. Concern filled the prince even as he tried to suppress the auspicious feeling.

"That, on your arm." Looking at said arm, Midna's eye brows rose in surprise and then she covered the mark with her other hand. Blushing embarrassedly, she looked away from Link and said, "Oh this? It's… I fell yesterday. No biggie." She tried to ignore Link's prying eyes and added a little pep in her step to avoid another confrontation since she figured she hadn't really convinced him with her lie.

At school, Midna was quietly sitting in the back of the classroom with a dreamy expression on her face. Link turned in his seat to watch her, finding the concern that filled him earlier to be insuppressible.

"Hey, what's up with Midna?" Aryll asked as she entered the room. She joined Tetra and Link as they looked at their friend uneasily.

"… I hope it isn't… It can't be…" Link looked at Tetra interestedly.

"What? What is it?"

"I'm not sure… I'm going to go talk to her."

"Me too!"

"Well, then I'm coming too." Tetra laid a hand on Link's shoulder and smiled sadly.

"Sorry bud, but even though you two have grown close, I don't think she wants to talk about it with you. Just let me and Aryll handle this kay?" Stubbornly, Link sat back down and watched as Aryll and Tetra confronted Midna. He was surprised when she opened up easily to them and started talking nonstop in that distinctive voice of hers. He leaned backward a little bit to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"It's not like I really do anything to provoke the guy but he's so defensive that the slightest comment sends him overboard and the next thing you know I gotta bruise on my arm!"

"I knew it was that jerk you're seeing now!"

"Why are you even seeing him?"

"I don't know…" Before Link could hear anything else, he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up. He was met with curious emerald eyes.

"Hi Link."

"Illia? What are you doing here? This isn't your class…" A tinge of red stained her cheeks and Illia looked down at her feet bashfully. At first Link was curious about her strange behavior but then remembered what Midna said about the possibility of her liking him. His face mimicked a tomato and he looked at his hands versus having to look at her. Now it was his turn to be eavesdropped on as the whole class turned their attention to the two friends.

"I… Are you busy after school today?" The Ordonian asked when she finally found her voice.

"No. Do you need me for something?"

"Uh… this is so awkward… I was wondering if you'd join me at the outdoor café after school today to, you know, catch up properly? We haven't really had much time to talk." The words came out in a jumbled up mess thanks to her rattled nerves but Link managed to make sense of them and smiled at her.

"That'd be fine." Illia's face beamed.

"Great! Okay then, see you later."

"Yes. Later." Illia left the room blushing and Link turned his attention back to Midna only to find that she had stopped talking and had settled for laying her head down on her desk.

After school, Link tried to catch up to Midna, determined to find out what was wrong with her since Tetra and Aryll refused to tell him, only she had already left the school grounds. A little miffed at his friend's behavior, Link cursed under his breath.

"Hey Link! Are you ready to go?" The prince looked at Illia incredulously after realizing that he had nearly forgot about their "date." The two of them walked to the café in silence and once they were there, they ordered a small meal. When the food arrived they ate silently.

"… Uh… this is nice huh?" Illia asked after a while. Link shrugged.

"I guess… It's nothing like Ordona though, is it?"

"No. You're right about that… but… I'm surprised you remember. It's been a while since you last visited there."

"That place has left a lasting impression on me. I'm likely never to forget it." His words brought a soft smile to Illia's lips.

"That's good… I'm glad that I'm not the only one that remembers those times either. Do you remember Uli and Rusl?"

"Yes. Of course, and their son Colin as well."

"Did you know that they had a daughter? She's just as lovely as her mother… I've got pictures, want to see?"

"Yes, please." Illia took out her billfold and showed him the pictures. Link asked questions about the villagers and Illia answered his inquiries enthusiastically. Their conversation continued that way until they started reminiscing about their mischievous childhood together in which they shared countless laughs. Time passed slowly and then finally the sun was beginning to set in the western horizon streaking soft oranges, pinks, and lavenders in the sky as it went.

"Oh Link! I really enjoyed talking with you! It's been so much fun…"

"Yes. I concur. I've missed you terribly Illia." As he told her so, his hand touched hers across the table. She blushed when she saw it and then placed her other hand on top of his. Link noticed that her face had taken on a somber expression and he wondered silently if it was because of something that he said.

"Link… I… I never told you about my romantic dream have I? For being so close and sharing so many things… I've always kept this to myself…"

"Illia?" Taking a deep breath she continued, "I used to have this fantasy when I was a little girl Link… that one day I would be swept off my feet by a knight in shining armor and whisked away from Ordona to live by his side in a castle where we'd live happily ever after… A part of me still thinks that that will happen one day and I guess… it kind of already has…" Before Link could rudely ask if there was a point to be had in this little tale of hers, the words caught in his throat when he felt her hands tremble in his.

"Illia?"

"I mean… It hasn't happened so much so in that same way but it has in the same sense… I have left Ordona and… and my heart has been whisked away by a nobleman. You asked me before who it is that I like Link and… I hesitated to tell you because I didn't know how to say it but… I'm in love… with you…" Her hands stopped shaking and she looked at him with a nervous smile on her lips. Link just watched her silently. He had no idea, not a clue about how to respond to her. Despite Midna's warning, Link still hadn't figured out his own feelings about the girl. Sure he cared about her, but was he really in love with her? When he didn't respond right away, Illia bit her bottom lip and said, "It's okay Link. You don't have to respond right now. I understand how it must feel for you right now. I just wanted you to know… how I feel about you…"

Together they walked home in silence. When they got to Illia's house, she gave him one last hopeful smile before entering her domicile to call it night. Link lingered at her home for a moment, deep in thought, before continuing on his way home. On the way back to his place, he saw Midna and a boy around their age. The boy had her up against the wall of a building and was yelling in her face. Midna struggled against him but the harder she struggled the worse his hold on her got. Without a second thought, Link ran over to them screaming, "Hey! Hey get your hands off of her!" Taken by surprise, the boy wasn't prepared for the contact Link's left fist made with his face. The boy hit the ground and before he realized what was happening, Link was pummeling him. Midna stood by and watched in slight horror and slight disbelief. When the boy caught his bearings, he managed to block one of Link's punches and slugged Link in the eye before pulling out a blade. Midna screamed when he took a stab at Link who dodged it. He grabbed the boy's arm that held the blade and twisted it so he lost his grip on it and it fell to the ground. After Link roughed him up some more, the boy took the hint and ran away bloodied and bruised. Link was breathing hard, an after affect of the brawl, and looked at Midna who had her hands over her mouth, still in disbelief.

"L… Link!? Are you crazy? You could've been hurt!" The prince wiped a little blood off his lip and grinned.

"Don't worry about it. What else are friends for?" When he said this, Midna looked at him but what she saw wasn't the Link she'd been seeing. He wasn't the prince of Hyrule who she was befriending at her own gain nor was he the little ass wipe of a book worm she'd first thought him to be. He was Link her best friend. Tears fell from her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, but she wasn't fast enough and Link started to comfort her until she yelled, "… You didn't need to endanger yourself though! You're such an air head!!"

"Doth my ears deceive me or is that concern I hear in your voice?" His tone was joking and it irritated Midna.

"I'm not joking Link! He meant serious business and for you to get involved without thinking… well it's reckless and irresponsible!"

"Oh? I can't involve _myself_ with whack jobs but _you_ can? Now how exactly is that so?"

"… It… It's really none of your business Link! I'll get involved with whomever I want!" Her comment made Link's temper flare.

"Well, as your friend I can't approve of such relationships and as your prince I forbid you from ever getting involved with characters such as him ever again." The prince's tone was harsh and condescending and Midna couldn't help but feel like a little, helpless child when he talked down to her like that.

"You can't do that!"

"Oh yes I can actually." When Midna didn't protest anymore, Link decided to ask her the obvious question, "What were you doing with that guy anyway?"

"He's my now ex-boyfriend."

"He was your boyfriend!?" He didn't try to hide his shock and it was evident in his exclamation. His dramatic cry of disbelief made Midna feel bad and she put on the defensive when she answered, "Don't act so surprised! He's really good looking and he kisses very well… His personality reeks though."

"Why get involved with _him_ of all people? Did you like him that much?" It occurred to Midna just then that there were plenty of other guys out there who were good looking and could kiss very well and didn't have stinky personalities. Heck, one was standing right in front of her! And he seemed even more desirable with sweat and blood glistening on his skin after a good fight. Especially when it was a fight to defend her honor. If there were other guys like Link out there, why had she settled for less?

"No… not really," she answered truthfully.

"Then why??" She knew why. She needed to be embraced. She needed to feel wanted; needed. She needed to feel like there was a reason she still lived after all the wrong she had done.

"… Believe it or not Link, not everyone will get involved with someone else just because they love them. You may end up marrying someone for love but the rest of us will take whatever we can get." Her words were bitter; tainted with the hardships of life as she had come to know them. Link watched her and took special notice of the solemn look that etched itself in her expression. Was this what she really believed? He couldn't understand it. How could someone so beautiful, so vibrant, be so melancholic?

"You never struck me as that type of person Midna." When her crimson eyes locked onto Link's deep blue ones, he saw that something about his words struck a match within her and the spark was evident in her eyes.

"… Really?"

"Well… I just… someone like you… it should be easy to find some else to love you." He believed his words whole heartedly and Midna wanted to believe them too.

"Uh… th… thank you… Well… The truth is that I did love someone before and I thought he loved me but I was wrong. He ended up hurting me so bad… And the sad thing is that I still… love him. I only went out with that guy you just beat up because I can't stand being alone." Her voice broke at the end and she started crying again. Link couldn't help himself. His body reacted on its own and he embraced her. Midna stiffened in his arms.

"You're not alone! You have me!" Both of their cheeks warmed as the blood flow increased there and they pulled apart embarrassedly. But at the same time, Midna's heart healed a little bit and she felt suddenly appreciative of the young man before her.

"Thanks Link."

"Any time. Midna… Illia told me that she liked me today." And like a blow to the gut, Midna's sudden bliss hit the fan. Not that she really cared about Link's love life, that is to say his love life wasn't of any concern to her, but for some reason, hearing him talk about another girl, another girl who liked him nonetheless, at this crucial moment in time really irked her. Nonchalantly, she leaned against the wall behind her and crossed her arms coolly.

"Really!? And what did you say?" She might have over done it with the false excitement, but she didn't want him knowing that she'd suddenly gotten jealous of the idea of Illia and him even though she was the one that kind of encouraged it. She was almost scared of what he'd say.

"… Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"You idiot! Do you like her?" There was a pause and for a moment she felt a little hopeful.

"Yeah but…"

"Then tell her! Ugh! I can't believe you!" Huffing angrily she stomped away and Link watched slightly confused as to why it was that she was angry.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: You and Me**_

The Arbiter's Ground was the unholy place where criminals were once sent to face judgment for their crimes. Many murderers, thieves, and other law breakers met their ends there. So the grounds were said to be haunted; tainted with the blood of the depraved. When the familiar towers of the grounds became visible over the horizon, Zelda felt herself gulp impetuously. If she had a choice, she would've been anywhere else but there; however, her duty called her to action and she had to oblige it. Even if it meant going into the home of the damned.

Zelda wasn't aware of how many floors the grounds were, or how dangerous. How many creatures of the dark had they encountered before they made their ways to the mirror chamber? Enough to leave the princess scarred for life. But even more scarring was what they found when they entered the chamber.

The mirror, the gateway between worlds, had been destroyed. It was shattered into pieces. Zelda gasped and touched a hand to its golden frame, the only thing left, hesitantly.

"How… how could this have happened?" Her voice was small, strained with the weariness that had suddenly come over her. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ganondorf's nefarious laughter.

"Ganondorf… I fail to see the humor in this! Don't you realize what this means!?"

"Oh I know what it means all to well young princess! It is you who doesn't really understand what opportunity has been opened now!" The desert king's face took a maniac look that caused Zelda to back away cautiously only she backed away into some of Ganondorf's followers who grabbed her arms. Some of Zelda's knights came to her rescue only to be relieved of their weapons by their skillful opponents. Now all the Hyleans were at the mercy of Ganondorf.

"What do you mean by this??" Zelda hissed.

"Hmhmhm… For years, I have had to grovel at the feet of others in order to work my way up into the high position that I am in now. I will succeed where my ancestors failed. I will _rule_ Hyrule!"

"What are you talking about? There won't be any Hyrule left if you don't restore the mirror! The worlds will collide! There'll be nothing!" To this Ganondorf merely brushed her comment off with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're wrong princess. I have already conquered the Twilight Realm. And with its assistance, I shall now conquer Hyrule!"

"I won't let you!"

"Hmph! I don't think you're in a position to make such big promises your majesty. See, the thing is, you're not going to be around to stop me!" With a snap of his fingers, his Gerudo took the Hyleans to and began tossing them down into a dark abyss. When it was Zelda's turn, she looked at the dark pit and then cast her eyes back towards Ganondorf.

"You won't get away with this!" She hissed. Ganondorf smiled.

"Oh, but I think I already have Princess. Have a nice trip and a safe landing!" On his final words, the woman who held Zelda, let her go and pushed her near the dark pit. Zelda tried to keep her balance but lost her footing and fell. Her screams filled the air until they turned to a mere whisper on the wind and then Ganondorf, with his minions in tow, left the scene.

A month later…

Fado was like a dark green jet on the field. None of the opposing team's players could touch him because The East Hyrule Academy Dragons defense couldn't be penetrated. Just when he was a meter from the goal line, an Eagle, having gotten past the iron clad defense, came out of no where to take him out. Who would reach the goal first? Just as the Eagle attempted to tackle the Dragon, the Dragon flew into the goal line. All the green supporters in crowd of spectators jumped up and cheered because the game was won. It was a great way to start the season.

"Oooooooh! All that intense game playing was all I needed to get in the mood for homecoming! Ain't that right Link!" Unable to contain her ecstasy, Midna jumped on Link. He couldn't hold her sudden added weight and crumpled over.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get off me!"

"Oh stop being a wuss! Maybe you should join the football team just to toughen yourself up!" Midna chastised. She released her grip on him and Link huffed angrily.

"Whatever. I can't believe you dragged me all the way out here just to see that mess! Who cares about a group of muscle heads inflicting physical pain on one another?" As much as Midna cared about her best friend, she could wring his neck at times. How could he fail to feel that extra rush that watching the football players in action gave? Midna was pumped from her head to her toes!

"Ugh Link! You're such a party pooper! Go get a personality makeover!" After she said this, the red head drifted off to congratulate the team as it made its way to the changing room to freshen up. Link watched as Fado lifted Midna off the ground and spun her around, obviously still pumped with euphoria himself and happier still to find someone to share it with. The sight of them together irked a feeling of spite in Link and he didn't understand why. So he turned away and was met with familiar blue eyes.

"Tetra? You were here? I didn't even see you!" He exclaimed, hugging his friend in welcome. She hugged him back and said, "Yeah! Me and Aryll! We were working the concession stand. How come you didn't buy anything? We had nachos, pickles, hotdogs, candy…"

"Oh man. Now I'm hungry!"

"Too bad! It's closed now! But you wanna go get something to eat as celebration for our team's victory?"

"Sure. Oh, but I gotta wait for Midna. She's celebrating with the team right now."

"Okay. I gotta go get my jacket anyway. I'll meet you guys in the parking lot! Buh bye!" She waved and walked away. Link sighed angrily. How happy could someone be about a muscle head winning a match? He dared to glance back at Midna and saw her taking pictures with the team for the school newspaper. Why was he so irritated? It wasn't like it was that big a deal. Besides, he was a prince, the next heir to the throne. But still… when he saw Fado and Midna together, they were the picture of the perfect couple. According to the teen shows, books, and movies, the hottest girl of the school automatically ended up with the best athlete of the school. It was cliché. It fit. But he was a prince! Didn't that count for something? Not that he in any way wanted to end up with his best friend! It was just the principle of the matter! Or at least, that was what he told himself.

When Midna was done taking pictures, she rejoined Link and together they went to his car. The girl was too caught up in her own happiness to notice Link's pissy mood, or maybe she had just grown used to it.

Over the next few days at school, Midna started talking to and hanging with Fado a lot more than Link would have liked. She started to eat lunch with him sometimes, or skip lunch to help him with homework in the library. Whenever he called while she was on the phone with Link, she would get off the phone with Link in order to talk to Fado, which wasn't right. After all, Link was her guy. He was the one she went to whenever she had a problem or question about something. He was the one that knew her second toe was longer than her first because it was a little tidbit that she had decided to tell him about when they were starved for conversation during a four hour phone call! Maybe Link was just a selfish person and wanted Midna all to himself, or maybe it was because he hadn't had that many friends before, but whatever it was, Link was not happy about the new development and told Midna about it.

"What? Are you serious? What's wrong with Fado?" She had come to Link's 'house' to get help with her calculus homework, and when they reached a problem that neither could figure out, Link dared to bring up the subject that had been on his mind. He didn't like her reaction though.

"What isn't wrong with him? Haven't you found him to be a little pushy?" Midna laughed.

"You don't even know him to say things like that!"

"Whatever." When she heard the drop in Link's tone, she looked up from her paper. He was sulking across the table from her. She studied him. He had his head down, resting on his arms, on the table. His small spectacles were hanging narrowly on the bridge of his cute nose having been pushed down by gravity. His long lashes covered his eyes because his lids drooped a little and his dark honey colored eye brows furrowed inward in a slight frown. His messy golden blonde hair even seemed to go downward when he sulked. She smiled softly. He was cute even when he was morose.

"You wanna know what I think?" He looked at her.

"What?"

"I think you're just mad because he had the nerve to ask Illia out and you haven't yet. It's been a month Link. When are you gonna give her your answer?" Link wasn't expecting to hear that. He had, in honesty, forgotten about Illia's little confession because everything was the same as it had always been at school. She didn't act any different, so Link sort of brushed the whole matter aside like it hadn't happened.

"Uh…"

"Is that all you have to say? Link, take into account about the way she must be feeling right now! She's been waiting for you to say something so much for so long that it must be hurting inside! What if she interprets your shyness as rejection? Oh! The poor girl!" How could Link tell her that it wasn't that he was shy, on the contrary actually, it was more that it had simply slipped his mind. Knowing that such a response would send Midna over the edge in her passionate state, he kept his lips locked.

"Link you idiot! Why don't you just tell her how you feel already!? You like her don't you?"

"… Well… yeah but…"

"But nothing! You're such a jerk face! I can't even stand looking at you right now!" Midna gathered her things and got up. Link watched her as she made her way to the exit of the room.

"Midna wait!" But she didn't wait. She didn't even turn around when she heard him fall outta his seat in his haste to go after her. She was too angry. How could he mess around with someone's emotions like that?

And with that, the next Monday, Midna took matters into her own hands. At lunch, the table was abuzz with talk of the upcoming homecoming dance. Girls talked about what to wear and when to go shopping. Amidst all the talk, Illia stole glances at Link who was oblivious. When he got up to use the restroom, Midna grasped her chance.

"Any idea about who you're going to homecoming with?"

"Shad's already asked me," Tetra told.

"I'm going with Ivan!" Aryll proclaimed.

"Ralf's asked me already," Naryu said.

"I'm going with Coro if he ever gets up enough courage to actually ask!" Din explained. Everyone looked at Illia expectantly. Her face flushed the shade of embarrassment.

"How about you Illia? Anyone taking you?" Midna inquired.

"… As of now… no." Her friends made sounds of sympathy and her face burned the color of shame. Midna smirked.

"Waiting for someone in particular?"

"Well… yeah… b… but… I bet he's already asked someone else."

"Nonsense! Tell me who it is and I'll get 'em to take you to the dance!" At Midna's generous declaration, Illia's red face slowly returned to its original creamy color and she whispered the name of the boy to Midna who could have put the word in her mouth herself having already known who Illia was going to say the name of. As soon as lunch ended, Midna cornered Link in the hall to have a friendly heart-to-heart.

"I have got the perfect chance for you to tell Illia just how you feel… at homecoming! Ask her to the dance!" Link's stoic expression was not the reaction she was looking for.

"What?" Sighing, Midna said, "Listen Link, there's no getting out of this! I already told her that I'd get you to ask her to the dance." This information was news to Link. He wasn't planning on going to the dance. And the last person on his mind to take to the dance had he actually decided to go was Illia. If what Midna said was true and Illia interpreted his lack of a response to mean that he had rejected her, then how could he ask her to the dance and tell her he liked her without seeming like an idiot? Who waits a month and a week to tell someone how they feel? Besides, he wasn't even sure he liked her in that way. He was still bugging about Midna and Fado and he didn't even understand why that was.

"Who told you that you could decide this all on your own?"

"No one. Now hurry up and get to it! She's coming out the cafeteria!" She cried as she pushed Link along in the direction of the migrating mass of students.

"Wow. It almost seems like you're forgetting who you're talking to. I _am_ a prince you know."

"Yeah? And? Just go you big oaf and stop procrastinating! By the way, do you use that as a threat a lot?"

"No. But it does give me a sense of comfort whenever someone's bugging me."

"You'll be thanking me for this later I assure you." And with that, she pushed him harshly and he bumped straight into Illia. Apologizing ardently, he looked back at Midna who gave him a thumbs up then he asked her to accompany him to the dance to which Illia responded in the positive. She hugged him and ran to class smiling at Midna as she did so.

So, with all this talk of homecoming that was just a week away, the group of friends decided to do their shopping together. They all met at the city square. When Midna arrived, she was in the company of a young man. Already Link was suspicious of him just by seeing his conniving face. Midna introduced him as her new boyfriend, Purlo, who ran a game tent somewhere in town. Apparently his game was popular and all their friends were surprised that he and Midna were involved. Link was less than thrilled. But he was happy to know that at least it wasn't Fado.

"So where are we gonna go first gang?" Tetra asked. All the girls pointed to Chudley's Emporium. To this the boys in the group cringed and Link was still stuck on the whole 'first' thing. If they started with the emporium then they were finished. It had everything they needed. Where else could they want to go?

They entered the store and all the girls split up from the guys. At least it didn't take the boys long to find what they were wearing to the dance. But even after their purchase, the girls weren't to be seen anywhere. That was an hour and thirty minutes ago.

"Man! I am _so_ bored! Why do girls like to shop so much?" Coro cried. The boys had just got through eating and were waiting for any sign of their counterparts. The others grumbled in favor of Coro's interjection.

"Who knows? But more importantly, why did we have to come along?" Ralf asked.

"I hear that. Think we could get away with ditching this place for going somewhere more manly?" Ivan asked, standing up. Shad and Ralf stood up as well.

"I'm all for it! How about you Link? Purlo?" Coro said standing up. Purlo mimicked the action of his new friends.

"I'm good to go." They all looked at Link curiously.

"I dunno… They might get angry…," Link told.

"Oh come on! They would not! Why are you being such a punk!?" Coro said.

"Yeah really. What's the deal?" Ralf asked. Link sighed.

"… I have a sister… I know how they think." He cringed slightly as he remembered a time he had decided to ditch Zelda, who had him play dolls with her, to read a book. Zelda was furious and had Ashei whoop him something fierce. The boys watched Link as his skin took on a sickly pale color from the memory.

"… You make it seem like they're creatures from another planet," Ralf noticed.

"I didn't know you had a sister Link," Shad observed.

"Whatever. Are we going or not?" Purlo demanded. He walked over to the exit and watched the guys meaningfully.

"Link you comin'?" Coro asked with a tone of finality in his voice. Link shook his head.

"Nope. I'm good." The rest of the guys left him with their bags. And Link had to wait another hour before the girls finally came to ask the boys for their opinions on things. They were shell shocked to find Link alone.

"Huh? Where are the rest of the guys Link?" Din inquired. Link yawned and stretched.

"They left."

"THEY LEFT??" All the girls cried in unison.

"To do what exactly?" Aryll demanded. Link hesitated to tell her. No doubt the girls would give their guys hell for leaving them, but it would be worse if Link told them why. Oh screw 'em anyway. They left him with the shopping bags!

"They wanted to do something more interesting."

"OH! So we aren't interesting enough huh? Those jerks!" Din yelled. She kicked a nearby trash can into a wall.

"Thanks for staying Link. If you want to go too I completely understand," Illia said. He looked at her. He hadn't really stayed because he feared her wrath. He'd stayed because he actually feared Midna's wrath. She and Ashei were on the same level when it came to kicking ass. And Link didn't want his ass kicked.

"Uh…,"before he could explain this to her, Midna pinched his arm, "NO! Tha… that's alright. I like spending time with you." Illia blushed. Seeing her reaction, Midna bent over and whispered in Link's ear, "Take her hand." Link was inclined to follow her instruction, not so much because he wanted to oblige it as much as her whispering commands hotly into his ear made him leap into action. All the girls swooned at his sudden display of affection not realizing that it had been staged.

"Awwww! Dammit! Now I'm really pissed off! Let's go get those jerkoffs back! Who's with me?" All the girls followed Din out the store. When Illia and Link tried to follow, Midna stopped them.

"You guys go ahead and have fun together. This matter doesn't concern you." She winked at them suggestively, causing Link and Illia both to blush before she ran along after her comrades. She hurried up and left too because it was something about seeing Link and Illia together that irked her. Okay. Yes, she was the one playing match maker and hooking them up, but it was really out of fondness for her friendship with Link. She still felt guilty about befriending him on Ganondorf's behalf even though that had changed altogether. She was genuinely his friend now and had been for a while. She was happy that they could just be friends because that meant she didn't have to seduce him in order to marry him only to have to kill him to claim his throne. No. It was much better for the both of them to just remain as friends. But, there was this feeling she couldn't repress. It was a yearning feeling of some sort. What she yearned for, she didn't quite understand. But every time she saw Link with Illia, some part of her wished that she was the one that stood beside him.

Link and Illia spent the remainder of the afternoon playing games and looking into stores. Link decided that Illia wasn't that bad a girl and that he could actually end up liking her in _that way_. Anyway, he had to do something because Midna was not letting this whole Illia x Link go. Though, he wondered why she was so passionate about the whole thing. Was she gaining anything from this?

After a while everyone regrouped and decided to go eat out somewhere. They decided on Telma's Bar because Midna could get them a discount on the food. When they arrived at the bar, it was packed even though it was only the evening. When Midna told Telma that she had brought some friends with her, the spirited woman led them to a table in the back that was secluded from the rest of the bar and gave them their menus. Midna decided she'd help serve the food since Telma was short handed. And in her absence, and while everyone busied themselves with other things as they waited for their orders, Link noticed Purlo flirting with three freshmen that went to EHA, Kili, Hanna, and Misha. Link's temper began to boil and when the three girls left, Link decided to have a man-to-man conversation with Midna's new bf.

"S'up Purlo?" Link greeted. Purlo tilted his head upward in greeting.

"Hey man. This place is great huh? And the girls sure are pretty!" He waved at the freshmen as emphasis to his point. Link nodded.

"Yeah… hey. Midna's pretty too. How'd you get with her?"

"Aw man! Lemme tell ya! I was working one day at my STAR Game tent and it was a slow day cuz no one was winning and then all the sudden this beautiful girl walks in and wants to have a shot at it so I let her and to my amazement she manages to actually win! No one wins! Ever! So I was impressed and I gave her the prize and asked her what it was going to take for her to keep her mouth closed about the secret to winning the game and she told me a date would suffice. That was three weeks ago though and we been together ever since." That's not the story Link wanted to hear. He was surprised that Midna was the one to come on to Purlo when usually it was the other way around. And for it to have been going on three weeks without him knowing? Was her attempts to hook Illia and him up a sublimation to her guilt for not telling him about her new boyfriend? Given, Link had forbidden her from seeing any guys that he disapproved of but if she liked Purlo that much all she had to do was tell him. Now he was gonna have see if Purlo was worthy of her behind her back. She might get angry at him for interfering but oh well. He was her best friend and he was going to interfere.

"So… what are your intentions for Midna?" Link cut straight to the point. His glasses managed to catch the dim lighting and shone bright enough to hide his eyes. His tone became monotonous and he assumed the business position by placing his hands on the bar and interlocking their fingers. Purlo didn't seem to be aware of the change in Link's attitude or of the fact that if he said the wrong thing Link was going to wring his neck and hang him out to dry.

"Intentions? Well… you know… I was just going to have my fun and whenever it got boring I was going to bail. Just between you and me, Midna isn't the kind of girl you wanna keep around. She's only for a good time ya know?" Wrong answer. Link grabbed Purlo's collar roughly and brought his face close to his own.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What's your problem all of a sudden man?" Purlo demanded. To bad he wasn't in the position for giving demands to anyone. Harshly, he slammed the boy's head into the bar and ignoring Purlo's cry of protest said, "I won't let you hurt her. If you don't want anything to do with her then move on."

"What? You can't be serious!" Link lifted him up so he could see the death glare that Link on conjured on his face just to let Purlo know that yes, in fact, he was dead serious.

"With all due respect Mr. Bodyguard, isn't it her decision whether or not she wants to stay with me?"

"Yes. Yes it is. Just know that I'll be watching and if you give her hell, I'll give you hell and then some. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Sheesh!" After deciding that he had effectively gotten his point across, Link let Purlo go. They glared at one another but their orders came so they went back to the table without another confrontation. But that first confrontation hadn't been good enough. All throughout dinner, Purlo played on Link's bad side by flirting and touching Midna all night long just to undermine Link's earlier threat. Link was so heated that he couldn't even eat. And as Purlo watched his temper boil over, he thought to himself, _'Yeah… I can get you where it hurts and you can't do a damn thing about it. Take that Mr. Bodyguard…'_Midna wasn't even aware that she was at the center of a battleground. After everyone finished their food and were saying their goodbyes, Purlo suggested that Midna come back to his place to which Midna agreed after experiencing one of Purlo's mind blowing kisses and seeing how Link and Illia were preparing to walk home together. When Link was done talking to Illia, and after seeing the triumphant smirk on Purlo's face as he left with Midna in tow, Link couldn't help himself. He left Illia with the rest of the group and rushed out after Purlo and Midna. When he got outside, he saw Midna and Purlo walking to a cab but before they got in, Link grabbed onto Midna's arm and the girl turned around and was shocked to see him.

"Link? What on earth…"

"Where are you going with him?" He blurted after catching his breath. She stared at his angry expression and silently wondered what it was that gave him a right to be angry with her and ask such a thing.

"What? It's none of your business!"

"Yes it is. I won't let you do this to yourself anymore! I won't let you hurt yourself!" He had subconsciously yanked on her arm to pull her away from Purlo and closer to him. Midna had never seen Link this way. It was more than just mere anger that was driving him now. It was something that Midna never saw before. She'd never seen him look at her the way he was looking at her in that moment. He seemed to be hurting somewhere deep inside where she couldn't see but it was reflected in his sapphire eyes. He seemed scared to see her go. And his strong hold on her let her know that he was determined to keep her there with him. Was he worried about her?

"… Link…," she mumbled softly. It touched her, the way his fondness of her manifested itself to these extremities that drove him this far. But at the same time it scared her. If he'd grown so fond of her that he felt that it was his job to protect her, did that mean that that fondness was indeed metamorphic in that it could grow into something else that was more extreme? Like… love? She pulled her arm from his grasp and backed away.

" Link, I can take care of myself alright? I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do!" He frowned at her.

"Someone's got to! You seem incapable of proper judgment!"

"What? How dare you! Okay. Look, your date is back at the restaurant where you need to be. Go back to Illia and be her knight in shining armor okay!? Just leave me alone!" Link's face softened up and he looked like she'd just smack him black and blue. Her words stung her nearly as much as they stung him. It would be wonderful if she could allow him to feel that way about her, but such feelings would only cause trouble and unnecessary heart break. She should have known that such manifestations could've arisen because there was no way she herself was willing to be just friends with him. In all honesty, her fondness for him had grown and changed as well. What could she do besides save them both by denying what both of them wanted?

"You comin' babe?" Purlo called. He'd taken his seat in the cab, silently watching and enjoying his landslide victory, or so he thought was his victory. He hadn't realized that Link was the really winner but he was just a pawn Midna was using to make sure Link didn't realize it either.

"Yeah…" She slowly backed away form Link, whose pain grew more apparent in his face with each step she took. Without apologizing, she got in the cab and left. Link watched.

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A/N: Ooh long chapter! And what's this?? Are Link and Midna in luuuurve? What about Zelda and Ganondorf? Will Ashei ever make another appearance? Duh duh duh duuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh! Heeheehee. Leave a review and you might find out sooner than you think. 


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N:_** I just wanted to say beforehand that there is some slight LxI in this chapter (sorry The-Jaron) so don't send me any angry reviews about it.

Enjoy!**_

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**_Chapter 7: Unspoken_**

Link didn't really understand why he'd reacted the way he had about Midna and Purlo because she wasn't his girlfriend and therefore he really didn't have a right to be angry. He supposed that it was just Ashei's influence on him but somehow he knew that it was something else, something bigger than mere anger drove him to do what he did. Was it envy? Was he jealous of Purlo because he was the one Midna chose in the end? Finding that the answer wasn't coming as fast as he'd liked and he grew frustrated so he decided to focus on something else, like the fact that Zelda hadn't sent him a letter in the longest time. Was she having that much fun being away from him? He'd doubt it. He knew his sister better than that. But even so the reason had to be one along those lines because she wouldn't wait a month to write him under normal circumstances. Deciding that his sister was a bad topic to muse over, he just cleared his mind and proceeded to go to school.

He wasn't surprised to see that Midna wasn't there waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs like normally, but he was a little downtrodden by her abeyance. Slinging his large backpack over his shoulder, he walked to school all alone. At least as far as he was concerned he was alone. Ashei was always two steps behind him.

At school, everything was normal, except the sudden competition for homecoming princess and queen and prince and king. People were campaigning like crazy and Link was a little amused by it. If they happened to be a representative democracy versus an absolute monarchy, these campaigning skills would actually be put to good use someday. He wished he could share these thoughts with his best friend but she seemed to be avoiding him. He had to wonder if his behavior was actually worth her spite. If she were truly his friend she would have forgiven him and maybe even showed gratitude for him caring that much about her. But as it was, Midna did no such thing. In fact, she seemed oblivious of his existence altogether. Whenever she was with him and their friends, she looked right past him like he was some kind of illusion. It hurt him so much that by the end of the week, when it was finally time for homecoming, he'd decided that he wasn't going to go. Not if it meant being near Midna.

He was in his room sulking when Ashei entered without knocking. Usually Link would blow a casket about it, but today he was too busy pondering the point of his life.

"Why aren't you preparing for that social gathering at your school?" She asked. Link sighed a deep sigh and shrugged.

"There's no point in going to the homecoming… not since the reason no longer exists." To this Ashei looked at him questionably before burying her elbow deep into his back until it nearly touched his spine.

"AH! ASHEI! WHY??" The prince exclaimed. He fell to the floor wreathing in pain and Ashei hovered threateningly over his hunched figure.

"You've got a date, yeah? Why are you sulking here speaking of things that make no sense? As the future king of Hyrule you've got a job to do and this job entails following through with your obligations despite any shit that may befall you. You want to be a leader that people can look up to, yeah?" Link looked at her and she looked at him. It was a rare moment of understanding between the prince and his brash bodyguard when sapphire met onyx. Link stood on wobbly legs and winced from the slight pain the movement created.

"Yeah… but… I really don't want to…" He stopped when he heard Ashei pop each of her knuckles dangerously. Swallowing the last of his words in a large gulp he smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah. I'm going to go ahead and get ready now!"

"Good…" Link walked out of his room and Ashei smiled triumphantly. Just then the door opened and Link popped his head back in.

"Uh… This is my room…"

"Oh… right. Stop lolly gagging, yeah?" After that inspiring conversation between Link and Ashei, the aforementioned prince prepared for the homecoming and then hauled ass over to Illia's place to pick her up. To his dismay, she wasn't ready and he had to wait with her father, Bo. The two men sat in the living room looking at each other indifferently. No words were needed to express what they each had to say.

"Bring her back at a decent hour… your HIGHNESS. And don't have her doing anything that I wouldn't have her doing," Bo's look said.

"Yes sir," Link's face expressed. When Illia finally came down, dressed in a deep emerald gown that brought out the color of her eyes, Link got up and walked her to the door. Bo watched them leave and when they had driven out of his sight, tears started streaming from his eyes.

"This… is the night… my little girl becomes a woman!"

The ride to the dance was quiet and suffocating. Link was all too happy to be surrounded by their friends upon arriving at the school. His stomach flopped when he saw no sign of Midna. Together the large group of teenagers entered the pandemonium that was homecoming. The latest music was blasting from the large speakers, courtesy of the DJ, and the large mass of the student body had been crammed into the tiny gymnasium, dancing heathenishly in rhythm with the loud beats the DJ spewed out. Link's ears started ringing in tune with the base drum which he found to be more irritating than enjoyable. Illia started bobbing her head to the beat and Link grunted. He already knew what was coming.

"Come on Link! Let's dance!" The boy looked at Illia's hopeful face and almost felt compelled to oblige her. Almost.

"How about not," he shouted and he pulled her arm. Together they maneuvered through the crowd of sweating teenagers until they reached salvation out on the football field. Apparently, they weren't the only couple that had discovered its solitude. There were other couples scattered all over the bleachers. Link felt even more irritated when he discovered that the music could be heard clearly, even from outside. He guided Illia to a spot on the bleachers that wasn't being occupied and they sat down together. Neither said a word, but studied the night sky.

"You always were the shy one," his date observed. He felt his face burn in embarrassment. He hadn't danced because he was shy… He just didn't want to. If Midna were his date instead, she wouldn't have taken no for an answer. Heck! If she was here now, she'd give him hell for not dancing with Illia. But she wasn't here and she wasn't talking to him. Link's eyes went to the ground where he studied his shoes with as much interest as he had looking at the stars. Illia noticed how her words had a negative affect on her friend and she hurriedly tried to reverse her mistake.

"But, I never would've guessed that you'd make so many friends…"

"… Yeah… It's… kind of cool huh?" He decided that having a conversation was inevitable and besides, silence was the harbinger of painful reveries.

"I think so. You're shaping up to be a great guy Link. You'll be an awesome king." Link dared to look at her and was welcomed with the sight of her bubbly face. He decided right then that that was the expression he liked Illia wearing the most.

"Oh come on. A king is only as good as the queen ruling beside him you know." Illia blushed and looked away from him. Link decided that she was cutest whenever she blushed that way.

"I… I suppose…" By this time, the crazy bass loving music had ended and slow, mellow tunes traveled out from the speakers. Link listened to the music and felt a sudden yearning. He studied Illia and noticed that was an extremely attractive girl, though not as much as Midna, but pretty all the same. And also unlike Midna, she had a kinder personality. Maybe he could get used to the idea of them. But first, he had to give it a try.

"Illia… dance with me." The blonde looked at her friend curiously and asked, "Is that a command your highness?" The prince smirked cockily.

"What if I said yes it is?" It was Illia's turn to smile.

"Then I'd happily oblige you." Link stood and held his hand out for her to take, which she did. Her petite hand seemed to fit perfectly in his more masculine ones and he held her close, placing his other hand on her waist. Illia put her other hand on his shoulder and together, they started moving to the sound of the music. The two of them looked deeply into one another's eyes and were more synchronized in that moment than they ever had been before. Link pulled her closer and she in turn laid her head on his chest.

"Illia… I still have to give you an answer don't I?" When Link's soft spoken words reached Illia she blushed shyly and slightly pulled away from him.

"… Y… yes… But… You don't really _have_ to. I mean it's okay if you don't feel the same… I was out of line when I spoke."

"Oh? So… didn't you mean it? Please say yes otherwise I'd be really sad."

"You… would? Why?"

"Because… I do believe I've fallen for you, Illia." Her expression was priceless at that moment. They stopped dancing even though the music continued playing and looked at each other. Link's heart felt heavy and it wasn't so much from the sudden affection for Illia that he had been afflicted with so much that it was from the reason that the affliction occurred. He had embraced the fact that, though he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself, he had some feelings for Midna that she'd never return and so he had to move on.

"Oh Link!" The boy felt so overwhelmed by her love for him that he was obligated to kiss her. Illia didn't argue, in fact she nearly turned to jelly in his arms when he pressed his lips firmly against hers. There. That was it. That was his closure. He'd moved on.

Hand in hand, the new couple reentered the gymnasium to see who the homecoming princess, queen, king, and prince were. They hadn't expected to see what they actually saw however.

Midna's face was red and she was fuming. Purlo just looked at her boredly. Link watched angrily from the sidelines with the rest of the spectators as Midna's rage boiled forth.

"How dare you!! Where the hell do you get off??" She screamed. Purlo picked his ear carelessly and actually yawned. It was as though Midna's yelling didn't faze him at all.

"I can't believe you would stand me up and then come to the dance with a freshman! What the hell were you thinking!!? ANSWER ME!" She grabbed his arm angrily but he shook her off by yanking himself free of her grasp.

"You can't be serious Midna. You should have known that it was coming. Kili has more class than you could ever wish to have. I mean, Midna, don't you realize how seriously lacking you are? Your personality sucks, you always have to have things your way, you always criticize people and actually there's so much wrong with you that it would take all night to say it all!" Midna's eyes glistened as tears filled them. Purlo made a mock puppy face and said, "Don't worry. You are good for a lay. That's about the only thing though." Unable to hold back her anger anymore, Midna started wailing on him in wild, furious blows with her fist.

"HEY! Cut that out!" He pushed her away forcefully and she fell to the ground where she stayed crying. Purlo smirked down at her and said, "Good riddance." Before he had full time to gloat in his moment of triumph, something that felt like steel collided with his face and he fell to the ground.

"Owch!"

"Not so tough are you, you rat faced pussy!" When Purlo looked up, he saw Link looming over him. He cracked his fist angrily and said, "I told you that if you gave her hell that I was gonna give you worse hell! Get ready because I am about to kick your sorry ass!" Before Purlo had time to react, Link was beating him like he was a dirty rug. Everyone watched in awe before cheering Link on. When Purlo had lost consciousness, Link wasn't aware and continued his onslaught. Purlo was a bloody pulp when Shad and Coro finally managed to pull the angry boy off of his prey. Link was still wound up so he was kicked out of the dance, but he took Midna with him. She too had watched the fight (well… it wasn't actually a fight since Link was beating the tar outta the guy and Purlo hadn't stood a chance, but whatever) and was awestricken. So when Link said that he was taking her home, she didn't argue. She just followed.

The two of them walked in silence, save the occasional grunt coming from Link. Midna followed along side him but her mind was somewhere else. Purlo, dog shit that he was, had said some terrible things that had left a painful impression on the girl. Maybe what he had said had been true and that's why she always ended up alone… Link looked at her when he heard her sniffle. He recalled seeing her crying on the floor, the power of her sobs making her body shake, and his anger once again rose. Remembering her tears made Link's fist itch to beat Purlo senseless again. Link didn't like seeing her hurt and whoever hurt her had to be punished!

"You want me to say it don't you? Well you were right!" She blurted. Link, who was blind with rage, looked at her and blinked in confusion before he responded, "…You… You don't have to say it. I know so already." Maybe that hadn't been the proper response but it was the truth.

"… Won't Illia be angry with you for dissing her to take me home?" To this, Link was utterly confused. How could she have known what had transpired between him and Illia unless she had been there spying on them? Well, as she was his best friend, and he knew his best friend, he wouldn't put it past her.

"No. She understands." More silence.

"…I'm not saying thank you!"

"You don't have to." After hearing him say so, Midna stopped walking and felt the tears she'd been holding back fall. She sobbed silently and Link stopped to watch her. His heart lurched with each tear that fell.

"… Is it… is it true? All… all that he said about me?" She asked between sobs. Link was dazed momentarily. He couldn't believe that she'd actually asked him that. Her, Midna, the most confident, self loving person he knew had actually just asked that??

"No! He's a jerk! He doesn't know what he's talking about! You're beautiful, intelligent, and… and thoughtful and… and… beautiful…" Midna's sobs quieted and she started wiping at her eyes. Link noticed that she looked vulnerable like that, like a child who needed protecting. Though she was far from a child especially the way she'd gotten dressed up for the night. While most of the other girls had worn some bright color, Midna had worn a black gown with a long slit on the side that exposed her milky leg. The dress was held up by two strings that tied at the neck so her back was exposed as well. Her usually straight hair was curly and it made the sexiness of the dress less extreme by making her appear more innocent. Perhaps the reason Link had repeated himself was because he'd been too busy looking at her. She was gorgeous.

"You said that already," Midna said, referring to his repetition of the word "beautiful". Link blushed.

"Well… it's true…"

"… Is that the only thing good about me?"

"No! Goddesses no! There's so much good about you that it would take all night just to scrape the bottom of the barrel!" Midna smiled.

"You speak to flatter me."

"What I said is true!"

"Then why doesn't any one love me?" Her voice was small and she'd broken eye contact with him to look at the ground sadly. Link's heart turned in his chest and he fought the urge to pull her close to him.

"Plenty of people love you." Midna laughed a hallow sort of laugh that Link had never heard come from her rosy lips.

"Oh yeah? Name just one!"

"… Me." Midna suddenly looked back up at him with wide eyes. It was almost the same expression that Illia had worn when he'd told her. It was different because there was a pain, a fear, behind the surprise.

"…N…Not romantically. You love Illia truthfully…," she said. She seemed to be trying to clarify it for herself by saying so, but Link didn't offer her any indication of whether or not her accusation was true. Instead, he took her hand, which fit exactly right in his own, and yanked her towards him. She smelled like strawberries. His unoccupied hand caressed her hair, pulling her head nearer to his as he stroked the deep red locks. He watched Midna's sad eyes close and her lips pucker as her desires took over. He couldn't fool himself anymore. He truly did love her and he'd been waiting long enough to express those feelings to her. He cocked his head to the side and brought his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8:Skiing Disasters**_

"So Illia, I saw that your date for homecoming was Link. How'd you manage to pull that off?" The emerald eyed beauty smiled sweetly at her fellow classmate, Mila, and answered, "Well… it was quite easy actually. After all… he is my boyfriend." To this Mila backed away from Illia and gasped dramatically.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? Really??" Illia simply nodded and then looked up to see the object of their conversation walking towards her. Her smile widened and she rushed over to him, falling into his opened arms. To Mila the scene reminded her of a romance movie in which the leading female actress ran to her beloved and they shared a loving embrace. In all actuality, Illia was hanging off of Link's arm possessively and he seemed exasperated by her open display of affection. Regardless of the reality however, Mila's eyes watered and she cried.

"WHY CRUEL WORLD??"

"Mila? What's wrong with you?" Mila looked up to see her friend Maggie looking at her with a disturbed expression. Ignoring the fact that Maggie was troubled by her awkward behavior, Mila acted even more strange by pointing vehemently at the couple.

"Observe! Illia and Link are… are… AN ITEM!" Maggie's reaction was similar to Mila's expect she started crying on the spot.

"OH WHYYYY???" And thus, the heart breaking news traveled from one love sick maiden to the next until the whole school was talking about Link and Illia. It was a little more than Midna could stand, even though she was basically the one who had spurred on the development. Of course, the ever sweet and innocent Twilight Princess had completely dismissed her role as match maker and glared daggers at Link all during first hour because she was bitter about him choosing Illia to be his official girlfriend. The oblivious prince felt her eyes on him and was thankful that mere looks couldn't kill otherwise he'd be six feet under. Silently he wondered if his sudden confession and kiss had something to do with Midna's bad mood. He wasn't soon to find out the answer to that though because she had been avoiding him and the topic altogether. His feelings weren't hurt though. On the contrary, he was intrigued that he could get that kind of reaction out of her. If he was the cause that is.

At lunch, Midna sat as far from Link and Illia as possible and when the table of friends had decided to talk about the new couple, she left. Link watched her sit at Fado's football table and he felt a sudden envy flare up within him.

"So anyway, I'm glad you guys are together and whatever but don't be all love, love all the time because it will start to totally weird me out," Coro said. Tetra gave him a look and asked, "Why?"

"Because! I can't imagine Link sticking his tongue down Illia's throat! It's too much!" Din slapped him in the back of the head.

"No one said you had to! And if he does, you don't have to watch!" She exclaimed. Link felt his cheeks warm, and Illia just smiled nicely. Shad looked at the both of them observantly.

"Well… I can kind of see Coro's point. After all, they would be that last two people I would pair together because Link is kind of acrimonious whereas Illia is extremely effeminate. They are two totally different types of people," he reasoned. Link's face turned an even darker shade of red and Illia's smile started to seem forced rather than sincere. Everyone seemed to think about this for a moment and then Aryll giggled.

"Yeah but that's the best type of couple! After all, Ivan and I are complete opposites but we get along great!" Everyone laughed strenuously each thinking about how often the two of them split up and got back together, which was often. Illia's smile vanished and Link's head slumped.

"It doesn't matter either way, as long as the two of you are happy together then that's all that matters in the end."

"Thank _you_ Nayru!" Illia exclaimed and she grabbed Link's arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"And he does make me very happy!"

Link was all too happy when lunch ended and he hurriedly rushed to his next class so as not to run into Iliia in the hall. Social Studies was more appealing today anyway because the teacher, Auru, had announced some exciting news.

"We're going on a field trip!" Everyone started murmuring amongst themselves excitedly and Link couldn't help but be a little anxious by the news as well. He'd heard that the Social Studies class had the best field trips because they lasted a long time and involved lots of traveling. Link liked traveling and he missed being able to go anywhere he wanted. So he listened intently to what Auru had to say.

"We'll be taking a trip to Snow Peak to corroborate with what we've been learning in class," the wizened man said, more murmurs erupted from his students, and when they quieted, he continued, "It'll be a week long trip since we will have to travel by foot to Zora's Domain, which is a three day venture because the school's too cheap to provide aerial transportation."

"Now because of this, I don't want anyone going who can't behave in school, and yes, that applies to you Mr. Mido" the aforementioned boy groaned at his teacher's words, but Auru continued, "because I'm too old and they don't pay me enough to get sued by your parents should any ill befall you. I'm taking both my third and fourth hour classes since they have the highest GPA's which in turn make me look good. So think of it as a thank you present. Now with that said, get these permission slips signed and back before the end of next week. The actual trip will be in two weeks time and I look forward to teaching you all about the Yeti and Yook who inhabit the snowy precipices of Snow Peak." He passed out permission slips and everyone started talking excitedly about the field trip. Link couldn't wait to get Ashei to sign the paper and be on his way.

"What do you mean you won't sign it??" Link screeched. He'd practically ran home to get Ashei to sign his permission slip and now she was putting all that physical exertion to nothingness by denying him what he wanted. His caretaker eyed him angrily and said, "Because."

"Because? Because!!? That's not a good enough excuse!" He cried raising his hands in the air in exasperation.

"But it will do, yeah?" She glared coldly at him and Link subconsciously shrunk away from her.

"But I _have_ to go Ashei! It's my obligation! It's the same as Zelda going around talking to all our allies! Don't you get it?"

"No."

"UHGHGHG! ASHEI!" He pulled on his wolfish locks of blonde hair and growled irritably. It was Ashei's turn to shrink back from him.

"Ashei! I need to get out of here! Don't you get it!!? Can't you understand!!?" He yelled, "… Maybe if I wrote to Zelda and told her about how you've been neglecting your duties as my bodyguard to play hooky in the castle all day you'd get the picture a little clearer."

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe. Are you going to sign my permission slip?"

"…Yes."

"Good. Then that was no threat. Thanks Ashei!" And with that, two weeks flew by and Link was among his classmates who were all cramped together in the school bus that was driving them to Lake Hylia. The bus wasn't exactly his favorite means of transportation but it was better than nothing.

"Think we'll see some Yeti or Yook??" Shad inquired excitedly.

"Hopefully not," Tetra responded. Shad's face faulted at hearing her reply.

"You don't mean that do you? They're fascinating creatures…"

"Shad! Spare me."

"Who cares about snow beasts anyway when we get to spend a whole week out in the wilderness? Ooooh! I can't wait to get cozy by the fire with my baby…," Coro said. He snuggled up close to Din as emphasis to his point and Din looked at him starry eyed.

"So romantic…," she swooned as she imagined them under the starlight together. Link gulped a little nervously when he looked at Illia and saw her envious expression. He didn't want to cuddle with her by the fire. He wanted to be by himself.

"What about you guys? Huh? Link and Midna?" Aryll asked, turning around in her seat to look at her friends. Both of them responded with, "Huh?" They looked at each other, blushed, and turned away. Aryll saw their exchange and blinked curiously.

"Huh?" The ride was long and by the time they made it to Lake Hylia everyone was tired and irritable because of being crammed on the bus for so long. Auru had the students split up into three groups of ten, five boys and five girls in each group, and set up camp. Link and Midna were in the same group and as they helped put up the tents, both of them avoided each other. They wouldn't even look at each other. Link was a little bothered by it but he didn't do anything to change it.

The next day, after eating breakfast, the class cleaned up the campsite and continued on their truck. They spent the day learning about the history of the lake and Zora. Link surprised everyone by sharing his extensive knowledge about the subject and Auru was impressed. Everyone had a lot of fun visiting the Lanayru Shrine, said to have once housed a light spirit that kept balance in Hyrule, and being able to dive into the lake to see the hidden Zora Temple. By the end of the day, the class had managed to start the hike upriver to get to the Zora's Domain.

The next day was full of hiking and everyone was really tired but they were happy when they finally made it to the Zora's lair because they were offered nice beds to sleep on versus sleeping bags on the ground like they'd had to do for the past two days. Again the class was broken up into their "family" groups and the groups had to sleep in a certain wing of the hotel they were staying at. Yes, Lake Hylia was a popular vacationing spot and the Zora's used the tourist attractions to build their economy on so their hotels and resorts were top of the line. Luckily, Link, who had visited many times prior to the fieldtrip, had sent a letter to the Prince Ralis telling him and his people to be discreet about his true identity so he hadn't had to endure embarrassing situations that offered explanations. For once in a long time, Link was genuinely happy. He wanted to share his happiness with Midna but she wasn't for it, so he shared it with the rest of his friends and his girlfriend. They had a small party in Link's room when they were supposed to be sleeping and the next morning they barely got up on time.

The fourth day was the most tedious because they had to trek the tedious mountain range known as Snow Peak. It was dangerous, but not as much as it would have been had there been a snow storm. Luckily, they only had to hike to the first summit and had taken the easiest route to get there, so everyone wasn't too pooped to be surprised to see a ski resort waiting for them at the top. They were greeted (much to Shad's immense happiness) by real live Yetis that ran the resort. After answering questions about the Yeti culture and comparing it with the Yook cultures (basically after they got through with the business) they got to ski but everyone was separated into their family groups and only one group at a time could be on the slopes while everyone else occupied themselves with other things the resort had to offer. Link was ecstatic to know that his group was first up. He put on his ski gear, and while he was tying his skis onto his feet someone plopped down beside him and bumped him a little with his or her rump. Link looked up to see Illia smiling at him brightly.

"Illia? What are you doing here? You aren't in my group," he said. She blushed and smiled.

"No… but I got Marin to switch me so we could ski together... I haven't seen you a lot and well… I'm really scared. It's my first time skiing and I want to make it special by skiing with my boyfriend," she said. He watched her for a moment as he thought about the sudden situation. He'd been all too happy to know that he wouldn't be seeing so much of her on the trip because of the whole separation into groups thing. He was reveling in the independence, unburdened, only to find out that the object of his undeserved spite wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be away from her. Guilt filled his insides and he smiled at her.

"Okay. That's a good idea. Here, let me help you put those on…" And he did. Afterward, the two of them took a car to get higher up the mountain and during the ride, Illia held onto Link's coat sleeve nervously. He held her hand reassuringly and when they got off, they skied down the mountain hand in hand. It was fun, Link decided, and he wondered why he had been happy to be without her company. She wasn't a bad person. As he thought this, that's when he saw Midna. She was skiing like a pro; she was very aesthetic as her long, fiery red hair billowed out behind her as she zipped expertly down the snow white mountain side. She was like art in motion and Link was enamored by her. He hadn't noticed that he had sped up to keep looking at Midna, so he wasn't aware that Illia had tripped to keep up with him until he noticed that he was no longer holding her hand and he saw her rolling down the slope. The girl tumbled and rolled down the mountain screaming as she went. Link hurried after her rolling form and he managed to catch her before she crashed into a tree. She was crying and snow was packed on her tiny form from her roll.

"Illia! Illia are you alright??" He asked. She shook her head furiously and continued to cry.

"Can you get up?"

"I… hic… I dunno…," she said through sobs. He wanted to tell her to try and find out but he stopped himself, having reminded himself that if she couldn't walk and could never walk again, that it was all his fault. Someone came up behind them, kicking up snow as they stopped.

"I saw that man. That was one nasty fall! Is she okay?" Link looked up and saw that it was Fado. Illia started crying harder and Link suddenly felt very stupid.

"Yeah… no… I need to get her back to the resort…"

"Need me to carry her?"

"No. I can do it. Could you go ahead and let Mr. Auru know what happened? That way they're ready for her when I get there?"

"Yeah. Sure." Without another word, Fado left and Link looked at Illia pitifully.

"I'm sorry Illia…," he mumbled and then he gathered her up in his arms and slowly descended the slope.

Everyone was worried to death about Illia, even though she'd just sprang her ankle. Link was relieved about that at least but he still felt guilty, so he stayed by her side while everyone else had fun. He ignored her protests and together they sat inside, bored. Thankfully, everyone else's fun had been cut short too because a sudden blizzard decided to hit. Auru called all the groups back and took a roll count.

"Link?"

"Present."

"Maggie?"

"I'm here."

"Midna?" No answer. "Midna? Midna if you aren't here then say so." Again there was no answer. Everyone started murmuring and Link felt his stomach hit the floor. Auru looked at his students seriously.

"Okay. This is no time for silliness. Has anyone seen Midna?" He asked sternly.

"I saw her earlier on the slopes. She was skiing but that was a couple of hours ago…," Fado said. Auru looked at him incredulously and the feeling in Link's stomach got worse.

"What? A few hours ago?? Well, that's no good! Has anyone else seen her recently?" No one spoke. The lights flickered and the blustering wind outside shook the windows. Illia looked at Link wearily but he didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone else.

"Whoa. So you mean she's out in that?" Coro asked pointing his thumb towards the window. It was dark outside and the snow was falling fast. People started talking loudly expressing their fear for their classmate's safety.

"Do you think she's still alive?" Link heard someone say and the question made his heart race. Auru exchanged a few words with Yeto, the Yeti in charge of the resort, before addressing his students, "No body panic. We'll have this matter straightened out in a little bit… But for now I'm going to continue roll call to make sure no one else is missing." And he did. For each name that he read and someone responded, Link felt a tinge of fury grow in his chest. By the time Auru got to the R's, Link was fed up with waiting and he stood up. Everyone watched him as he gathered some equipment. When Auru called a name and didn't get a response he looked up and saw Link as he headed towards the door, bundled up and carrying a large pack on his back.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going boy!?" Link didn't turn around when he answered, "I'm going to find Midna."

"The hell you are! Sit down! There's a rescue team that Yeto can send to search for her! I won't risk another student's safety!"

"But you'll risk hers??" Link bellowed, "Why haven't you sent the search party yet? Why isn't she back yet?? What are you waiting for??"

"Young man, I'm doing the best I can. Maybe if you kids nowadays behaved yourselves a little better stuff like this wouldn't happen! Now if you go out that door there will be major repercussions on your return, and that's _if_ you return."

"She's worth it," he said. He opened the door and harsh wind entered. Everyone screamed as the cold nipped at them and Link ventured out.

"That dumbass!" Auru cried.

Link took out the flashlight he'd packed and he started searching for his friend. He called her name but his voice was muffled by the strong winds. Still he treaded on, even when it seemed impossible that he'd find anything. It must have been a solid hour before Link nearly gave up, but his foot prints had been covered by the falling snow and so he couldn't find his way back. He continued forward and that's when stumbled on a large lump in the snow. His stomach twisted and he hurried towards it. He nearly stopped breathing when he saw that he'd found what he'd been looking for. He picked her limp body up and looked around to find a place to warm her up. In the distance he saw a pale light and made his way over towards it. The goddesses must have been on his side because he'd found an abandoned cabin. Without wasting time he entered.

Midna was surprisingly light and when she didn't open her eyes, the fear Link had been suppressing flooded him and he shook violently.

"M… Midna…?" He whispered and he took off her hood and unwrapped the scarf that hid her face and was glad to see that at least her face had color. He took a deep breath when she stirred and when she looked at him with her ruby eyes he exhaled.

"Midna!" He cried.

"… Hmm…Link? Ugh… My leg hurts…" Link looked at her legs, and noticed that she had one held at a strange angle.

"Does it hurt really badly?" He asked. She nodded and said, "It's a little sore." She winced as Link touched it.

"Sorry… I just wanna look at it…" He gently rolled up her pant leg and saw that her calf was red and about a size larger than it normally was. He looked at her and she looked back at him wearily. Link dug around in the large pack he brought and pulled out some antiseptic and a wrap. He rubbed the antiseptic in and proceeded to gently wrap her leg.

"I don't think it's broken but you shouldn't walk on it for a while …"

"Hmm…" The two of them were silent as Link finished wrapping her swollen calf. The wind howled ferociously outside and Midna shivered a little. When Link finished her leg, he looked around and saw a fireplace. He took out some matches and paper and proceeded to start a fire. Midna watched and when the fire started blazing, Link helped her sit down by it but saw that she was still shivering. He grabbed a blanket from his pack and snuggled up next to her, holding her close to himself under the blanket. They stayed that way, cozy and warm in one another's embrace, when Midna's stomach growled. Link looked at her and she blushed.

"You're hungry?"

"…Just a little…" He pulled out a donut he had brought with him and handed it to her. She began to nibble on it. When she got a good portion of it down her throat, Link decided to ask, "How long have you been out here exactly?"

"I dunno," she replied after swallowing, "One, two hours tops? I fell out of my skis and crashed." Link realized that one or two hours ago, he'd seen her gliding down the mountain like she'd owned it. When he hadn't been looking, she'd crashed just like Illia. He felt a sudden remorse. Maybe she'd saw him fawning over Illia and got distracted. Or maybe it was just as she said and she hadn't tightened her skis well enough. But pros don't make little mistakes like that.

"What?? Why didn't you call for help?? You could've got hypothermia! You could've _died_!"

"… Sorry…" Her response did nothing to ease his growing rage.

"You're so irresponsible!" He chastised. Midna looked at him incredulously.

"_Me_?? You left on your own to come find me in a blizzard! That's irresponsible! I mean if something happened to you we'd both be screwed!" They glared at one another. But Link backed down having realized that she was right. His actions were more impulsive than anything else and he hadn't really thought about the consequences at the time he'd decided to go find her. Midna looked away from him too and studied the fire.

"Why did you come back anyway? Isn't Illia injured? Shouldn't you be with her?" He'd been right. She _had_ seen them.

"She's taken care of. You're the one who needs me."

"… I'm not weak… I… could've handled myself."

"Riiiight…" Midna elbowed him in the stomach playfully and then silence befell the two friends. Midna snuggled closer to him.

"…Cozy…"

"Very." More silence.

"… This is ridiculous! You haven't talked to me in ages and now you suddenly come to my rescue? How is that?" He looked at her then and stuttered his answer, "Er… that is…" Slowly her angry face turned into a smile.

"I can forgive you if we can just put this behind us… I mean I know that I had put you in a bad position back then Link. I know that that kiss didn't mean anything…" Ahha! So that is what had been bothering her! He was right yet again. He knew her all too well.

"…Well…"

"Shh! I'm speaking! And don't try to deny it! It's okay. Now let's forget this whole thing and go back to the way we were." Her face was so hopeful that Link couldn't argue with her and he just smiled softly at her.

"Alright." Her face beamed and she lay down obviously content that that had worked out well and she had her friend back.

"Good. So, anything new with you?"

"Not really… You?"

"Nope…" Link began to stare at her, happy that they had started talking again, and happier yet that he got to spend alone time with her. Midna noticed his strong gaze on her and she looked at him as well. The two of them stared at each other and Link felt a sudden urge to kiss her. He was surprised when he'd notice the feeling had been there for a while, ever since he kissed her homecoming night. He couldn't push the memory away, and what's more, he couldn't suppress his want for her either. This desire seemed apparent on his face and Midna huffed angrily.

"Ugh! You're not putting it behind you like you said you would! Link…" Before she could finish, Link pressed his lips against hers in a coerce kiss. Midna tried to resist but he pressed up against her, deepening the kiss and rendering her defenseless. She moaned a little and wrapped her arms around his neck. Link smiled against her mouth, finding her behavior amusing. He pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"I missed you…," he whispered.

"Mmm… I missed you too…" They kissed again. Link stopped kissing her mouth and started trailing kisses down her neck. Midna inhaled a sharp breath and said, "What are we doing Link? This… this isn't right…"

"But it _feels_ right," he said breathily and hotly into her ear. His hand traveled underneath her coat and under her sweater until it came in contact with her bare skin. Midna shivered with desire from his caress and Link kissed her mouth again. She wrapped a leg around him and he groaned in his throat as he pushed himself on top of her. He wasn't aware that he started lying on her sore leg and Midna broke the lock on their lips in order to vocalize her vociferous complaint about the discomfort in one word, "Ow!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry…" Link apologized.

"Geez Link!"

"M… maybe you should get some rest…" The prince said getting up off of her. He wasn't so much sorry that he'd hurt her leg as he was glad that it had happened because he could feel himself become lost in his passion and he had no idea what would have transpired between them if the interruption hadn't occurred. It was startling… Enticing… Midna looked at him with an eyebrow arched.

"I don't know… you might try to take advantage of me…," she said slowly. Link grinned and hovered over her.

"If I really wanted to, you'd have been had by now." Midna's cheeks turned a cute rosy color and satisfied by her reaction, Link backed away and put the discarded blanket on her.

"Just go to sleep," he ordered gently. Midna nodded obediently and when she arranged herself into a more comfortable position, she saw Link sitting up against the wall nodding off. He evidently took her words to heart and tried to keep as much distance between them as possible, but Midna didn't really mind. He could have all of her if he wanted. She blushed again silently reprimanding herself for such thoughts. Sitting up, she crawled over to Link as best she could with one good leg, and cuddled up next to him. He opened his eyes to see her drape the blanket over both of them and then rest her head on his shoulder. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, laying his head on hers.

"There's no one I trust more than you…," she whispered and kissed his cheek. Link's lids, heavy with fatigue, already covered his eyes and his breathing slowed. Midna smiled and too felt the true depth of her tiredness as it consumed her. Both comfortable and content, the two teens fell into a deep and easy slumber.

The next day the storm was gone and the only trace of its existence was the new two inches of snow on the ground. Link and Midna left the comfort of the small shack and were welcomed by the late rescue team. They were taken back to the resort where they found that everyone was distracted with something. When they saw what that something was they gasped.

"Ashei?? What are you…?" Before he could complete his sentence, his caretaker grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and looked at him with an uncharacteristically distressed face. Link watched her with a sudden foreboding feeling entering his stomach.

"I've got bad news about her highness…"

* * *

A/N: Yay! An update! The last of the year! I hope everyone has a blessed New Year's Eve and a great New Year! 


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: A New Development**_

"She's been taken hostage by Ganondorf…" It took Link a moment to comprehend what Ashei had just said. The shock from seeing her so suddenly and in such distress froze his brain. When he finally processed her statement, disbelief took the place of his shock.

"What?" Ashei looked gravely down at his feet and then bowed down before him, still gripping onto his shoulders tightly. Link kneeled down with her and touched her hands with his own. She was trembling.

What she said couldn't be right. Ganondorf was an ally. The whole Gerudo despising Hyleans era had passed. The world was at peace. And if what she said was true, what could make him want to destroy such a hard gained peace? Link had no reason to doubt Ashei's words because he'd never seen her act this. Besides, the information offered an explanation for the lack of communication from his sister. His disbelief turned to worry, and his worry turned to anger. What had Ganondorf done to his sister??

"If… I have your permission… may I go to save her?" The warrior's broken voice brought Link out of his reveries and he looked at the woman.

"Wha… Yes. Of course. But Ashei, how'd this happen?" Ashei's momentary weakness subsided and she stood up.

"I don't know. Just be safe here on your own young master, yeah? I'll bring her back safely…," to the class and teacher, she said, "Be mindful of his majesty or _I'll_ have to deal with you…" Her face had hardened to add emphasis to her threat and Link's classmates backed away from her fearfully. Auru nodded and said, "Y…yes! Of course!" Content, Ashei looked back at Link and touched his shoulder in a last example of reassurance. He nodded and before he could blink, Ashei was gone. For a while no one spoke and everyone looked at Link curiously. Midna subconsciously backed away from Link in a visual manifestation of the guilt she felt about the newly revealed information. She hadn't been apart of the abduction, but she had known it was going to happen and did nothing to stop it. What would Link think of her if he knew? Would he still want to hold her close and kiss her? Would nights like the night before still be possible? She trembled a little and bit back tears. Link was oblivious of her sudden change in demeanor having been occupied by his own thoughts in regards to Zelda.

"Who was that Link?" The boy looked up at Tetra who was looking at him curiously.

"Uh…"

"Yeah! And who was she referring to when she said 'her highness'? And why'd she call you 'his majesty'?" Aryll inquired. Link's throat dried out as he couldn't think of a response to either question. He'd been so caught up in his own world that he'd failed to keep Ashei from revealing his identity. He stood up and stuttered for something to say. Everyone watched him. Illia and Midna exchanged looks before looking at him as well. When Midna noticed how distressed he was, she came to his rescue.

"That's his crazy caretaker Ashei. She thinks that Link and his sister are the royal siblings who govern Hyrule. She's kind of whacked that way huh Link?" She wrapped an arm around him and smiled gleefully. Her coming to his aid relaxed Link and he found his voice, "Y… yeah…"

"But why did she come all this way to tell him that his sister's been kidnapped by Ganondorf of all people??" Fado inquired. Both Link and Midna paused and then she started laughing hysterically.

"She's wacky that way! So who cares? Now everyone lay off him for a moment and come crowd around me and tell me how worried you were when I didn't come back yesterday!"

"Oh yeah! You _are_ back! Link actually did it!" Tetra observed. Everyone started crowding around Midna, bombarding her with questions. She rubbed her neck embarrassedly, unsure of which questions to answer first, and then she looked at Link. He worded the word "thanks" without saying anything and Midna mouthed back, "You owe me one!" Illia saw the exchange between them and felt suddenly very out of place like the world was theirs alone and she was a lonely spectator just looking in.

Without a moment's hesitation, Auru had his students air lifted from the mountains and taken back to Castle Town in a privet plane owned by Yeto. Everyone was ecstatic to be able to fly back versus going back the way they'd come. Link's unexpected visitor was forgotten and everyone started reminiscing about the field trip. No one noticed that Link and Midna were troubled.

At home, Link couldn't relax. His mind was troubled with visions of his sister in unfathomable situations where she was at the mercy of the brutal Gerudo King. He had locked himself up in his room over the winter break, which marked the end of first semester and the beginning of second semester, and studied all the books that he had neglected since he started at East Hyrule Academy. He wanted to find some piece of the puzzle that spurred on this change in the Gerudo King. As he read, he mused over how different he was now from who he had been. He put the change on all the things he'd been through and people he met. Maybe that's what Zelda meant when she told him that there were some things books couldn't teach. He smiled at the memory. He had been so against starting public school but now that the year was halfway over, he was sorry that the time was ending. He was going to be made king soon, possibly sooner if anything happened to Zelda. That thought hurt his heart and he actually started crying.

Zelda was the only family he had left. Being alone to run such a large country scared him, but it was the idea of not having Zelda around that really hurt. Suddenly, all the people he met didn't seem as important because in the end he would have to say good bye to them and them him. They would go their separate ways and possibly never see each other again. Suddenly, the prince felt very, very alone.

Midna seemed to sense Link's melancholy having caught a bit of it herself what with all her indirect involvement with the missing princess and all. She decided, to make herself feel better, that she was going to go ahead and try to appease the both of them by inviting Link to go out for some hot chocolate. When she called, he seemed reluctant but went with it anyway. Together they tried to ignore the plaguing thoughts that clouded their minds.

"Link… she's gonna be okay, okay?" Midna said after taking a sip of her hot chocolate. The warmth of the beverage seemed to fill her soul and she already felt an uplift in her spirits. Link nodded a little and inhaled a large breath as he looked around their surrounding. They were in the small coffee house that was located in the southern part of the city. It was a nice accommodating little place filled with people who had gathered there for the warmth and tranquility the shop offered. There were a lot of groups of friends there and there were families and some couples there as well. It was cozy, the perfect place to forget the troubles of the world.

"I know… but… I don't understand it. We haven't done anything to risk our alliance, so why all of a sudden…?" He didn't finish his sentence and instead took a large gulp of the chocolate in front of him. He winced as the hot liquid scorched his esophagus.

"I… I don't know… either…" Midna said and immediately felt bad for lying to her friend, "Gah! I feel so… so… so angry!!" Link looked at the girl across from him bemusedly.

"What's wrong with you? Why the sudden outburst?"

"Link! I… I…" What was she doing? If she told him what she knew then it would jeopardize their relationship. Her happiness that had been long coming was about to be gone again all because she was about to spill the beans. But she had to do it! Holding it in was killing her! Besides, if they were truly best friends then he would accept her no matter what. After all, things have changed. She was no longer his friend for pure self gain.

"Link… there's… I have to tell you something important…," she started hesitantly. Her voice trembled and Link looked at her seriously then.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I… Link… I…"

"Yes?" Before she could spit it out, she was interrupted by the presence of Link's girlfriend. Illia wrapped her arms around Link's neck from behind and kissed his cheek in greeting. Both Link and Midna looked at her incredulously.

"Illia! What are you doing here?" The Prince asked. He hadn't meant to sound rude but that's the way he came off. Illia ignored it and smiled at him sweetly.

"I was just in the neighborhood and my friends decided to come here!" The other three girls who Illia had mentioned as her friend were brought to Midna's and Link's attentions and both of them exchanged confused looks.

"Mind if we join you?" Illia asked. She pulled up a chair and sat next to Link, cuddling close beside him. Her friends followed suit and they all started talking at once.

"Link! You won't believe what these goons have started!" Illia bellowed into his ear. Link flinched at her loud voice and asked, "What?"

"We made a fan club for the two of you!" Illia's friend, Maple stated. She helped herself to some of the cinnamon cookies placed at the center of the table.

"What? What is that?" Link asked. His irritation was apparent in his angry facial expression and laconic words. Midna felt her own anger boil forth the longer they stayed. How dare they intrude so rudely in the middle of such an important conversation? She couldn't help but be a little thankful though. After all, now she could be his friend a little while longer.

"Link you're so outta the loop! A fan club is a society full of fans who are dedicated to a certain subject! We are dedicated to Link x Illia! In other words, we're fans of your guys' relationship!" Link's and Midna's faces faulted.

"What? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? You guys are like the dream couple that everyone wants to be! We love you guys so much!" Farore stated.

"Yeah. At first we started it as a joke but it got to be really popular and started gaining members like crazy!" Saria explained, "It's a really big deal."

"Well! Why? That's so stupid!" Link blurted. The girls looked at him skeptically.

"Why? I think its cute! Besides, you guys are the ultimate couple! If there had to be a fan based club on any couple at the school it had to be you too! You're always so lovey dovey!" Saria cried.

"Yeah! Like on the ski trip when Illia hurt herself! You stood by her even at the risk of not being able to do anything fun!" Maple cried. Link blushed. Of course they didn't know what had transpired between him and Midna… but why had they disregarded his haste to go help her? He was more passionate about that then having to stay with Illia since it was his obligation. After all, her getting injured was his fault.

"And! And! And you two have known each other since you were kids! If that isn't an example of true love I don't know what is!" Farore said. The girls swooned and Midna rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just cuz you've known someone forever doesn't mean that you're in love," she said. Everyone cast angry eyes her way.

"Tch! You're just jealous cuz you don't have a guy like Link in your life!" Maple snapped. Midna frowned.

"He is in my life! He's my best friend!"

"You're just a third wheel," Farore claimed. Midna felt hot tears fill her eyes.

"Man! Fuck all of you!" She bellowed before standing and storming out of the shop. Everyone else in the chop watched their table in interest. Link felt his face redden.

"Geez. There's no need to make a commotion like that…"

"Leave it to Midna to ruin a good time out."

"Try it the other way around," Link mumbled under his breath through clenched teeth.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10: The Drama Piles High**_

Thank the goddesses that she possessed magical powers. Zelda was sitting alone in the dark confinements of her prison on the verge of giving up all hope until she remembered that she could use telepathy. She contacted Ashei and waited patiently for her to come to her rescue. In the darkness, Zelda could feel herself grow weary and since it was her by herself, she had nothing to do but think. And think she did. After she got out of the danger zone she was going to hurry up and have Link choose a wife because they would need a sturdy monarch on the throne for what was going to be one of the biggest decisions they had to make as rulers. They were inevitably going to go to war. Zelda wasn't really stuck on the fact that they would be going to war as much as the fact that her little brother was going to be married. Who would be a candidate for her sister-in-law? Perhaps one of the girls he mentioned in his letter. Thinking about the letter was like thinking of a time that passed eons ago since her sense of time had weathered the longer she stayed confined. From what the princess could recollect, Midna seemed like a good choice because it was obvious that he was smitten with her by what he had written and the girl was a good match since she could hold her own against a prince of his caliber. Zelda could hardly wait to get out and meet her.

"Your highness!" Zelda looked up and felt herself swell with happiness. Ashei was looking down at her shining like a ray of hope.

"Ashei!"

--------

"Look! Here they come!" Midna glanced at the couple that was making its way through the hall. Her peers had cleared a path for the duo like they were royalty so she could see them clearly. Midna smiled at that thought, but when she saw Illia holding onto Link's arm possessively while he just subjected himself to it, the smile disappeared as anger boiled within her. She slammed her locker closed and hurried away from them, or at least she thought she had.

The truth was that since the Link x Illia fan club had been created three days prior, people began to worship the two supposed lovebirds as they believed that it was true love and something worthy of worship. It was irksome and everywhere Midna went, people were talking about them. Maybe she was only irritated because Link was passively accepting all of it while making it seem as though that snowy night on Snow Peak hadn't happened. Midna could still remember his strong arms around her and the feel of his lips against her own…

Frankly, it pissed her off that he was letting everyone believe that he and Illia were the perfect couple, when in fact he was unfaithful. Midna grumbled to herself and laid her head down on her desk. It wasn't like she had room to complain anyway. It wasn't like they were secretly dating behind Illia's back or anything. They'd just kissed a couple times. Besides, she couldn't be with him. She'd only cause him pain. If he ever found out about Ganondorf's secret plans then it'd be over between them. Maybe it was for the best that he kept his distance from her. If they crossed anymore of the borders that separated them, neither was going to be happy.

The red head inhaled a deep breath. Maybe it was time she got a new boyfriend.

--------

Link sighed deeply and closed the book he was reading. It had been an entire week since Ashei went to save Zelda. He hoped that she hadn't run into any trouble, otherwise he'd have to send troops. He didn't want a major scandal happening before he was even coroneted for his kingship, so if he had to mobilize the army then people would start getting suspicious. War was the last thing he wanted his people to worry about, especially since they'd been accustomed to a peace that had been hard gained in itself. He had locked himself up in his room everyday for hours on end trying to find a way to reach a peaceful negotiation without having to go to war, but all his books offered no such solution. The frazzled prince scratched his head furiously and sighed heavily. If that wasn't enough, his eighteenth birthday was coming up fast and he needed to choose a wife. That thought preoccupied his mind more so than the safety of his sister or possible war with the Gerudo.

Who was he going to marry? Lately, Illia had become a great hit amongst their peers and people were very supportive of their relationship, so Link had to put that into consideration. Maybe she'd make a good queen, but the more he thought about a lifetime with her by his side, the more his heart seemed to sink. The truth was he didn't want to marry her.

He let his mind wander to thoughts of Midna. A vivid image appeared in his mind and made the prince's heart race. She had been ignoring him lately and he had a sneaky suspicion that it was his fault even though it was Illia's friends who were the ones that were rude to her. He leaned back in his seat leisurely. Thinking of that night, he wondered what it was exactly that she wanted to tell him. Before he could ponder it anymore, his phone rang. He nearly fell to the floor when he scrambled clumsily to his feet to reach it on the third ring.

"Hello?'

"Hey wasup Link buuuuuuuuuuuddy?" It was Coro. Link tried to hide his disappointment that it wasn't Midna and said, "Not much. Just in my room reading…"

"Yeah about that, you can't keep yourself cooped up like a pigeon all day. You're a young man! It's not healthy! You'd think you'd be with that cute girlfriend of yours in your spare time… I know I would!"

"… Yeah… I guess…" Link silently thought to himself, _"Don't let Din hear you say that…"_

"Speaking of, she and the rest of the gang decided to hang out today. Wanna join?"

"Is Midna gonna be there?"

"Eh? I dunno. Does it matter? You guys haven't been talking much recently. Are you fighting or something?"

"I guess that's one way of seeing things. Anyway, where are we meeting?"

"The fountain. See ya!"

"Bye!" With that, Link decided to rest his brain for a little while and went on his way.

His friends were as rowdy as ever and Link could barely keep up what with his lack of sleep and weariness. But he had to admit that it was a helluva lot better being with them than being cooped up in his room all the time. He was going to miss this freedom when he became king.

After cutting up around town, the group of teens needed to rejuvenate their energy and went to an ice cream parlor called, Beth's Spot. After they all placed their orders, they combined two tables and sat together having small talk. When their orders finally came, all of them tried some of their food and gasped with surprise.

"Hey! This smoothie's pretty good!" Din exclaimed, "How come I've never eaten here before?"

"That's cuz this place is new and no one knew about it until now. You're almost as bad as Link," Coro commented, helping himself to some of his girlfriend's shake. She slapped him on the head and stuck her tongue out at him.

"This tastes kinda like the ice cream in Ordona," Illia said, "Don't you think so Link?" The boy stopped eating his sundae and nodded.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you two were from Ordona. Somehow I can't imagine Link as a country bumpkin," Tetra said pointedly. Her friends laughed at her comment and Illia turned a bright pink.

"… So you think I'm a country bumpkin?"

"Huh? No! I was just saying, Link's so proper and princely all the time that I can't imagine him out in the country. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Speaking of princes, you guys think that the royal siblings are even living in that new castle at the edge of the city?" Aryll asked. Her friends looked at her as they contemplated her question.

"I dunno. They're so isolated that everything about them is a mystery," Ralf said, "That place looks abandoned most of the time except for the guards that are stationed at the entrance."

"I'd hate to think they'd use our tax money to renovate that castle and not even live in it," Ivan proclaimed. His friends nodded in agreement.

"How come they're so secretive anyway? Does anyone even know what they look like?" Aryll asked.

"Ever since the assassination of the king and the queen, no one's seen them. They were kids then so they must be adults by now," Nayru stated. Link felt his ears warm and to save his pride, he said, "The royal family prides itself on being discreet. Maintaining a kingdom is hard work in itself so being famous and allowing other nations see into the heart of Hyrule would problematic. Besides, the county's running smoothly so there really is no need to fret right? By the way, the prince is going to be turning eighteen in a few months' time. Then he's going to be coroneted for his kingship. That's a public affair so we'll see him then." Everyone looked at him in shock. Some ice cream dripped from Coro's hanging mouth. For a long moment, no one said a thing and Link was scared that he had given himself away.

"Wow… Who pays attention in class like that?"

"Leave it to Mr. Know-it-all…"

"Link why do you know so much? Oh I get it! It's from being locked up at home all the time and reading all those books!" Sighing with relief, Link smiled and laughed at his friends' comments.

"Wow. The gang's all here." The group turned to see Midna smiling at them. Link's heart thumped against his chest painfully at the sight of her.

"Hey Midna! Came to join us?" Tetra asked. She scooted over and motioned for the girl to pull a seat up next to her. Midna hesitated and when she saw Link she stuttered, "W…w… well actually…"

"She's here with me." The group looked to the burly football player that they hadn't noticed until just then. Fado wrapped an arm around Midna possessively and smirked at them.

"We're on a date."

"WHAT??" Everyone exclaimed. Midna's cheeks turned a soft pink and she avoided her friends' eyes, namely Link's. He looked like a beast ready to go on a rampage.

"So does that mean you guys are going out?" Tetra asked. Everyone waited.

"Yeah. We are," Fado answered. Link wasn't aware that he'd been squeezing his spoon tightly so when it snapped in his hand, creating a loud noise, everyone jumped in surprise.

"Sorry…"

"… Well, at any rate. Why don't you pull up a seat and join us bud?" Coro asked. They made room for the couple and everyone started talking again like before. But unlike before, Link wasn't interested. He kept stealing glances at Midna who was being openly affectionate with her newest boyfriend. Link felt like hitting her, well, not her but he definitely wanted to hit something. His sudden sour mood hadn't gone unnoticed by Illia and Midna. Both girls tried to keep the atmosphere lively by being over exuberant in the discussions. When the waitress brought Midna's and Fado's orders, and some refills for the others, Illia gasped.

"Beth! Is that you??"

"Huh? I…Illia?? Wow! It's been a while!"

"I know right! So this is your shop huh?"

"Yeah… I needed to get away from Ordona. City life suits me much better after all, so I started selling my own ice cream. Wow, I can't believe you're actually here! And who are all these people?"

"My friends, here I'll introduce you to them." And Illia did. Then she went on to give a little background information as to how the two knew each other. Apparently, the girls both grew up in Ordona together. Everyone listened intently to her recaps and when she finished, Aryll said, "That is so freaky seeing a friend after so long! Hey, did you know Link too?" Beth raised an eyebrow in curiosity before saying, "Link? That name isn't familiar… Should I know him? The only Link I know is the Prince of Hyrule. He used to vacation there with the rest of the royal family until the king and queen were killed." Link's face burned. No one said anything and then Aryll pointed at the flabbergasted boy.

"Well, I'm talking about this Link right here. He's Illia's boyfriend and she claims that they were friends back in Ordona…" Beth looked a Link a little closer. She studied his face intensely for a couple of minutes before gasping dramatically.

"L…Link!? Your… your majes-" Before she could finish, Illia jumped on her and the two fell to the floor with a loud "thud!" The food spilled everywhere. Everyone gasped and went to help them. Link took this as his cue and hurriedly left during all the pandemonium.

He was sitting at the fountain alone when someone's shadow cast itself over him. Link looked up and saw Midna smiling sheepishly at him.

"Hey," she greeted. The prince didn't say anything and instead returned to looking at his feet. Silence fell between them and Midna took a seat adjacent to him. She inhaled loudly and asked, "That was a close call huh?" Link didn't reply.

"I bet you're glad that that girlfriend of yours sacrificed herself so you could get out of there. I was feeling kind of nervous for you…"

"…Why are you with that guy?" Midna looked at Link curiously for a minute and then studied the clear water in the fountain. Neither spoke and Link was growing more irritated the longer the noiselessness dragged on. In truth, he had been relieved to leave so he wouldn't be in her presence anymore. He didn't care if his identity was found out. To him, it didn't seem nearly as big a deal as her and her newest fling.

"Why should it matter to you," she snapped tersely. Her tone made Link look at her. She was glaring at him coldly and he wondered why she was angry. If anything, he was the one entitled to anger.

"Why shouldn't it?" For a minute neither spoke and then Midna got up and started walking away. He wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

"What," she hissed when he grabbed her roughly by the arm. The prince didn't back down and instead he met her challenge.

"Don't walk away while I'm talking to you!"

"Oh, my bad! I thought this conversation was over with since there really isn't much to say. You're _only_ my best friend Link and you already have a girlfriend! Speaking of, where she anyway?" Midna placed a hand on her forehead and started looking around like she was searching for her. The young man didn't get angry but instead he looked at her sadly.

"…You're with him because you aren't with me?" Midna's face turned twenty shades of red in less then twenty seconds. She snatched her arm away from his grasp and started shaking her head vehemently.

"Wha- no! Oh no! Get over yourself! I'm not dying to be with you so much that I would try to suppress my yearning for you by making seem like I don't yearn for you by being with someone else!" Her words slurred together in a fast sentence that Link barely comprehended, but he comprehended them nonetheless. Smirking coyly, he crossed his arms over his chest and started circling her. Midna became more flustered by his behavior because she felt like she was his prey that was laid out on in the open in easy reach for him.

"… Oh really," Link stated calmly, "Well, when you put it so _eloquently_ like that, I guess I can't argue with you. However… I don't recall ever saying that you and I quote 'yearn for me.' Where did that come from?"

"I…I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Midna tried to get away again but Link was too fast and he grabbed her again, this time pulling her into his arms. They looked at each other lovingly and Midna whispered, "You seem so eager to keep me close. Why is that your highness?" It was Link's turn to blush. Instead of being put off by her comment and letting her go, he only pulled her closer. Midna's eyes widened in shock at his behavior and Link simply smiled at her.

"I… Midna I…"

"Yes?" It was too much. He missed her so immensely that it was beyond him to control his body's desires any longer. He leaned forward eyes closed. Midna's heart raced and she closed her eyes preparing for the kiss that she had been yearning for. Both of their mouths had barely brushed together when a bright flash light shined for a split second and a loud clicking sound resounded. Link immediately pulled away from her and she him as they looked around for whatever was the cause.

"Link… What was that?"

"I don't know…" In truth, the young man had the suspicion that it was a camera. But who would want to take pictures of them?

"… I think I'll be going now…," Midna stated. Even though he didn't really want her to, Link nodded in agreement.

"Good idea." The two separated, walking off in different directions.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11: The Truth is…**_

A couple of un-suspenseful days passed by. Link wasn't put at ease by the fact that nothing was happening. In fact, he felt even tenser. The peace reminded him of the calm before the storm… In all honesty, the young prince was right. It seemed that all the things up to this particular point were building up to a zenith that was soon to come tumbling down in a shower of unrest for all that were involved.

Midna and Link hadn't talked since the weekend when all of them hung out. She seemed untouchable when she was in the presence of Fado. Besides that, people were starting to take the L x I club a little too seriously so much so that the couple were always under someone's watchful eyes. If they weren't together, people went crazy. It was a little much for the prince to have liked, but there was really nothing he could do but accept it.

Then it happened.

One day Link got to school a little later than expected because he wanted to relish his solitariness, but he would find that it had been better if he hadn't bothered going to school at all. When he entered his first hour class, he was met with the sight of people, mostly female classmates, surrounding Midna. The girls were like a group of hungry lionesses wanting to make the kill. When he got closer he saw that all of them were armed with a copy of _The Gossip Stone_, the local tabloid. On the cover was a picture. The picture was of a boy and girl about to kiss. But not just any boy or girl. It was a picture of Link and Midna from that Saturday. He gasped.

"What do you think you're doing you slut!?" One girl shouted angrily. She threw her copy of the tabloid at Midna who flinched when the book hit her in the head.

"We won't let anyone come between Link and Illia! I don't care if you are his best friend! This is going too far beyond the boundaries!" Another girl yelled. She shoved Midna and Link started to maneuver through the crowd to help her but someone grabbed his arm. He turned around and saw Illia looking at him sadly.

"Illia…"

"Link… t… tell me it isn't true…Please say this isn't you in the picture!" Everyone seemed to forget about Midna for the moment and all eyes were focused on the couple. Link's mouth felt dry and he couldn't speak. Tears erupted from the girl's melancholy emerald eyes and she screamed, "I can't believe you" before running out of the room.

"Illia!" Forgetting about Midna for a moment, Link rushed out after his girlfriend. Midna watched with wide tearful eyes.

"Ya see? You can't come between true love. Now accept your punishment."

--------

Illia ran all the way outside to the football field and Link was surprised at how fast she was moving. She managed to run all the way up to the top of the bleachers where she was faced with a dead end. When he finally caught up, Link grabbed her arm and held it tightly.

"Il…lia…," he breathed, "Listen for a minute…" Before he could speak, Illia yanked her arm out of his grasp and glared at him angrily.

"No! I don't want to listen! How could you?? Did you even think about me at all?? Did you consider my feelings?? Do you even _care_ about me??" Illia's face was red and her voice was loud, heavy with the pain he had caused her. Link didn't speak. He didn't know the right words to say. The girl before him crumpled and fell to the ground on her knees. She hugged herself and her small body shook from the fierceness of her tears.

"I… I love you so much…," she started in a voice scarcely above a whisper, "How could you be so cr…cruel??"

"Illia…"

"I guess… I guess I've always known that you never felt the same but… but I always believed that I was capable of making you love me… Was I… wrong?" Link didn't answer. He knew she didn't want him to. The heartbroken girl dared to look up at him as she said, "I won't lose so easily! I won't!" Before Link could say or do anything, she was back on her feet and running away. He didn't chase her. He didn't do anything but watch her retreating form.

--------

"Take that!" Another fist collided with Midna's face and the girl stumbled backward. She breathed heavily trying to fill her lungs with much needed air, but before she succeeded, someone pulled her roughly by the hair.

"You think because you're so pretty that you can do whatever you want huh? I'm tired of you and your conceited attitude! It's time you were brought down a notch! Give me the scissors." Obliging the girl's command, scissors were placed in her hand and she started hacking away at Midna's hair. Midna didn't cry and she didn't struggle. She just let them do as they pleased.

"_When had things taken a turn for bad?"_ She wondered silently as she watched large chunks of hair fall all around her. She always knew that nothing good could become of her and Link's relationship, but she always foolishly hoped that one day they could be happy together. After all he was the first person to ever see her for who she was beyond her looks. He accepted her, all of her and he didn't use her for self gain. He protected her dutifully. He was her best friend. And she had fallen in love with him.

Maybe she wasn't meant to be happy and maybe she wasn't meant to fall in love. Ever since she abandoned her title as the Twilight Princess and left the fate of her people in Ganondorf's hands, she believed that she honestly didn't deserve happiness or love. But she wanted to feel happy. She wanted to be in love. She needed to, otherwise she felt she would drown in her own despair. Her existence was sad and meaningless until she met Link. He was her knight in shining armor. But even he couldn't protect her from the perdition she was destined for. It was just her nature to live unhappily and she felt bad for making Link apart of it. With this new hair cut, she vowed that she was going to shed her old life and start living anew in a life without love, or happiness. In a life without Link.

--------

"Midna… your… your hair!" Midna ignored her boyfriend's outburst and said, "We can't see each other anymore." Fado looked at her dumbly for a moment and then he frowned slightly.

"Hey! If anyone should be breaking up with anyone it should be me breaking things off with you! Do you realize how dumb you made me look? I was bragging to everyone that I finally snagged a good one and she turns out to be a damn slut! I'll never forgive you!"

"… I'm not asking for your forgiveness… I know I don't deserve it…"

"Damn straight… Man… such a waste too… It's sad looking at you. Get out of my sight! It's over!" Fado stomped away from her and left her all alone.

"It's better that way…," she mumbled and she too turned around and started walking away. When she reached the exit of the school building, she found Illia there waiting for her.

"We need to talk," she said in an angry tone. Midna looked at her. She took special notice of the puffy bags under eyes, remnants of the many tears that she had shed that day. Midna stared at her feet. It was an example of another person she'd hurt.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Oh, I beg to differ. You owe me a damn good explanation about your relationship with Link! Just what is it between you two? Huh? Are you deliberately trying to move in on my guy? Is that it? I always knew there was something going on between you two but I always gave Link the benefit of the doubt because I really trust- or trusted him."

"And who's fault is that? Don't get mad because you're gullible. And besides, there's nothing going on between us! He's my best friend! That's all."

"And you're in love with him! Admit it!" Midna's heart throbbed painfully in her chest and she refused to meet Illia's furious eyes. What difference did her feelings make? If Illia was so stuck on him then she could have him! After all, Midna was letting it go. All of it.

"It doesn't matter how I feel because the reality is that he chose you. He wants you Illia! You won!" Unwillingly, Midna burst out in tears. Illia stepped away from her and looked around nervously. The pain was unbearable and it was made even more so by that fact that she had no one to comfort her. Pushing passed Illia, Midna ran away.

Three days later…

No one had seen her since the publication of the tabloid. Link tried calling her at Telma's but she was never home. It was as though Midna had vanished off the face of the planet.

He wanted to see her so bad. It was his fault for being so forceful with her. If he hadn't let his emotions take control then they wouldn't have been in that mess to begin with. He'd admit he was wrong, if only she'd let him. But no. She'd run away again. _"Why is she always running,"_ he wondered, _"What good is running away?"_ Even if he wanted to, he couldn't run away from all the trouble he'd caused. In fact, he had decided that he was going to face it all head on. It was time he started taking more responsibility because he was going to be responsible for a lot more people besides himself in the near future. Besides, running away would just leave trouble untouched so that it was always going to follow.

He wanted to tell Midna that she didn't have to run anymore. What ever trouble she was dealt, they could face it together.

"Midna?" Mr. Lenzo asked as he read off roll call.

"She's not here again teach," Tetra told sadly. She was just as worried about her friend as Link was. Mr. Lenzo marked her absent and continued the call. That's how everyone was. No one cared. They just marked her off and went about their lives. Link felt immense sadness ovewhelm him. How could they live without her? The prince couldn't comprehend it.

"Say, do you think Midna's gone back to where ever it is that she's from?" Link's ears homed in on Saria and Maple's conversation.

"Hopefully. Things are a lot better when she isn't around to make trouble." Saria nodded in agreement and the two went on to talk about what a slut Midna was. It was more than Link's uncharacteristically short temper could handle.

"Where the hell do you people get off talking about Midna that way??" The whole class stopped and turned its attention to Link. The two girls blushed embarrassedly.

"Ah… L… Link… You still care about her that much huh? Even after all the trouble she caused you and Illia?" Maple inquired. Everyone waited with bated breath to hear his response. Link clenched his fist tightly and he said in a stern voice, "I do. She's my best friend." For a moment no one spoke and Link eyed the whole class spitefully.

"She's my best friend! So if any of you have a problem with her then you have a problem with me too! I don't want anyone talking bad about her! Especially since none of you know her well enough to talk about her that way!" Link breathed deeply and he glared at everyone in the room.

"You're all disgusting. I wish you guys were the ones who'd disappeared instead." With that final statement, Link grabbed his things and bolted out the room, leaving everyone stunned silent in his wake.

It wasn't long before the whole school found about Link's impassioned defense of Midna, so by lunch everyone was talking about it. Illia noticed that he wasn't around and by the things people were saying, she could only smile sadly as she thought to herself, _"No Midna… He chooses you."_

After lunch, Illia found Link sitting at a table in the library. He was engrossed in a thick text and seemed oblivious of the world outside the one in the book. She walked over to him and took a seat across from him. He didn't look up and Illia was slightly glad that he hadn't. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to say what she wanted.

"Hey Link… let's go on a date!" The boy turned a page in his book and didn't look up. Illia took a deep breath and said, "We can go to the café again since it's gotten warm out… We haven't been since that time I told you how I felt…" Link paused in his reading. Slowly, his deep blue eyes traveled away from the page and met Illia's. Her emerald eyes were a dull jade as the sadness within her reflected there. Link felt suddenly guilty for the pain he was causing her and he said, "Sure. Why not?"

It wasn't a date like the first one. It wasn't filled with the happiness of a possible beginning. The air between the two was muggy with the mutual understanding that this was a date that marked the end of a one sided love affair. The two didn't go to the café first. It was unspoken that the beginning was going to be the ending too. Instead, they both went around the city like they had that weekend when they had gone shopping for homecoming with the rest of their friends. Those were happy times, and the memories dissipated the gloomy air that hung about the two.

When it could no longer be put off, the two went to the café and ordered the drinks they had when they had first visited. Illia stared at her herbal tea in deep contemplation and Link watched her. She was a very important person to him, they had grown up together after all, and he felt bad for putting her through all that he had. Neither spoke and the air grew heavy once again.

"I had a great time today Link," the blonde said with a false bubbly tone. Link took a sip of his coffee and then smiled.

"Me too. It was the most fun I've had in awhile." Illia fidgeted uncomfortably after he said so and she looked sadly at him.

"I feel I'm partly to blame for that… I wasn't easy on you about the whole Midna thing." Link grinned but it was hallow. Just hearing Midna's name was enough to put him in a bad mood. He took another sip of his coffee and then looked at the distance over Illia's head in a thoughtful manner. Illia hadn't missed the solemn look on his face after she mentioned Midna.

"It's fine," he said after a while. Illia shook her head furiously.

"No it isn't! She's your friend and I understand that. I do, but…" Link focused on the girl before him once again and he quirked an eyebrow in interest.

"But?" Illia bit her lip. This was it. This was goodbye.

"But… I can't… I'm tired of competing with her."

"Wha… what?" Illia looked at Link with a hardened expression and the boy could only blink in confusion at her sudden change in demeanor.

"Link try not to be so dense! I mean, you must know by now that I'm not the one you love! You love _her_ Link. I know that and accept it now, so it's fine!" She stood up and paid for her half of the bill. Link watched her and when she looked at him with a bright smile on her face, his heart thumped in his chest.

"Go to her. I think she needs you." For a moment neither moved. How had this happen? Had Illia really matured this much? Link studied her. Her stature was straight with confidence and determination. Her face was filled with a large smile that made even her eyes twinkle. This was the woman his friend had grown into. He stood awkwardly and placed his half of the money on the table as well.

"O… okay… I'm… I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. Go." Link didn't immediately follow her command, and instead he took her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. Illia was rigid against him at first but then she hugged him back just as fiercely.

"Thanks Illia… And even though it's not you that I love, remember you'll always be… an important person in my life," he said. Illia nodded and the tears she had fought back so hard reigned supreme as they fell down her face. It was goodbye… But it wasn't an ending.

---------

Even though he was so eager to hurry and look for Midna, he still had no idea where he could find her. He had to stop and think about all the places he'd seen her. But when he checked those places, she was no where to be found. He asked around and no one had seen her, not even Telma, her caretaker. Link was about to give up until he walked into an alleyway crawling with felines and he saw a brilliant red head of hair on a girl that was laying on the ground. It was a girl despite the boy haircut and at first Link couldn't recognize her. But when he got closer, he saw that it was indeed Midna. She was sleeping but it wasn't a peaceful slumber. She moaned in pain and even twitched nervously. When he touched her, her skin was burning hot from the fever that she was housing. Even though it was spring time now, the nights were still colder than the days. Link wondered if she had been living like a vagabond the last couple of days and hadn't properly shielded herself from the cold. He took off his sweater and put it on her and then gathered the sleeping girl into his arms. The cats protested but Link ignored them and he carried her back to his castle.

Midna felt herself being swept off the cold cobbled ground as warmth surrounded her. At first she thought it was a dream, but when she opened her eyes she was truly no longer in that dreary alleyway. Instead, she was lying in a large bed in a large room that she didn't recognize at first but had the sneaky suspicion that she knew the place all too well.

"W…where am I," she asked. The question was directed more towards herself but even still she got an answer.

"Hello sleeping beauty." Midna turned around in the bed and was surprised to see Link smiling at her. His hair was matted down and he yawned loudly. Had he been sleeping beside her?

"Link!? What are you doing here?" The boy scratched his head and looked at her curiously.

"I live here. You're in my castle." Oh. Midna did a once over of the room again and saw that yes in fact it _was_ Link's room, _in_ Link's castle.

"Really," she mumbled. But how had she gotten there?

"… I found you passed out in an alley," Link told as though reading her mind, "You were running a fever so I brought you back here." Midna felt her cheeks warm embarrassedly and she studied the tile flooring. She wanted to look anywhere besides him. Silence filled the air between them. Link studied her for a moment, taking in her lithe body and pale skin. What had she been planning on doing anyway by disappearing like that? And what happened to her hair? Had she cut it so no one would recognize her? He sat up and Midna gulped nervously. This was the last place she wanted to be.

"Midna, are you okay? Why have you been cutting school?" His voice was low, barely above a whisper but the worry was still evident in it. Midna pulled the thick comforter up on her some more and hugged herself.

"…I haven't felt like going," she snapped. She wanted to be as nasty to him as possible. Maybe he'd get angry and throw her out on her ass. Anything would suffice as long as she didn't have to be there having such a conversation. She was surprised when Link didn't snap back at her and she dared to glance him. He had a hand over his mouth and his eyes were shiny as though he was on the verge of tears. Her heart raced in her chest.

"That's not because of me is it," he asked. He looked at her sadly and Midna turned away from him. Why was he getting so emotional?

"N… no…," she stuttered nervously and then she changed her mind, "though… in some way… yes…"

"Why? What have I done?" He had grown anxious now and he had reached out to touch her. Midna moved away from him.

"What haven't you done is the better question," she hissed. Her eyes started burning the longer she glared at him. He looked so pathetic and it made her feel guilty but even more than that she was angry because he was making her feel that way. It was frustrating to be so close to him and there was nothing she wanted more than to rush out of that room; however, it was too late to turn away now.

"I would be a lot better off if I had never met you," she started bitterly, "because before you everything was simple and I was happy!" Link watched her and he felt a small pang in his chest. Midna started to cry.

"Things were okay but then… I met you! I met you and everything seemed to get a little better but then I lost my hair, my mind, everything!"

"Midna…" She jumped off the bed and faced him with a sorrowful look on her face.

"And the worst thing is… I … I think I love you!" Everything seemed to stop and Link wondered if he'd heard her right. Midna started wiping her tears away and she took a deep breath.

"I do… And I have for a while now but I can't have you because of someone else! That's the worst thing anyone's ever done to me Link… and I've had a lot of bad stuff happen to me," she said. For a minute neither said a word and then Link started laughing. Midna watched him quizzically.

"What's so funny! I'm not joking!!" Her comment only made him laugh harder.

"I know! I know! And that's what's so funny!" He cried. Midna felt her anger rise to its boiling point and she threw a pillow at him.

"Whatever! I don't need this! I'm leaving!!" Before she could make it to the door, Link was on his feet and he had her by the arm. She pulled and yanked but he wasn't letting go.

"What? Haven't you done enough??"

"…We broke up."

"Huh?" She turned around and faced him. Link was smiling softly.

"Illia and I, we broke up yesterday."

"...Oh… I'm...sorry."

"Don't be. It was for the best anyway. After all, I couldn't very well be with her when I'm in love with someone else." He pulled her closer and Midna felt the blood in her veins start to rush.

"Link…"

"Midna, I meant it when I said I loved you before. You're the girl I choose."

"…Oh…"

"Oh?"

"I don't know what else to say."

"Nothing. There's nothing more to say." And with that, Link hugged her to himself tightly and kissed her. Midna swooned and melted in his arms. Her world seemed to get better in that one moment.

* * *

A/N: Since I was behind in updating I decided that I'd post this chapter too. I hope you enjoyed the climax, but this isn't the end! Oh no! You still got to find out about Ganondorf's plans, Zelda's return, and Link's coronetion! And some of the other stuff inbetween. All that's going to be covered in the next seven chapters. Heehee... Yeah so don't go anywhere and remember to review! 


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12: The World is Ours**_

When Midna awoke, she thought that her time with Link must have been a blissful dream. When she realized she was sleeping in a bed that wasn't her own with someone else, she thought otherwise. She studied Link's face as he slept and found it amusement in the fact that he looked like a helpless little child while he slept. Unable to stop herself, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. The slight connect made him stir slightly. After a few minutes, his eyes opened slowly and Midna felt her heart dance when he looked at her.

"Hey," he muttered hoarsely.

"Hey," she whispered back. Link smiled and then said, "You've got bad breath in the morning." Midna's face flushed a million shades of red and she smothered him with her pillow.

"How dare you!!?" Link pulled the pillow out of her hands and smirked at her mischievously.

"It's not anything to be embarrassed about…"

"I guess you're right. I'd take bad breath over looking like a swollen eyed Yeti whenever I wake up in the mornings." Link blushed and he started pulling at the skin around his eyes uncertainly. Midna laughed at his expense.

"Anyway, it's not morning time anymore. It's already noon," the girl acknowledged after glancing at the clock. Link looked at it as well and sighed.

"Yeah. You're right… Well, it looks like we won't be able to go to school today. So what do you wanna do?" He laid back down and crossed his arms behind his head coolly. When he glanced at Midna, he was surprised to see her looking at him like he was an alien.

"What? What's with that look?" His girlfriend turned away bashfully and started poking her index fingers together in a visual display of her nervousness.

"Are… are you really going to skip school today? You've never missed a day of class before…," she mumbled. Link watched her for a little longer before closing his eyes and relaxing.

"It's not a big deal right? After all… school isn't nearly important to me as us finally being able to spend time together…" Midna's cheeks burned as she blushed. Link looked at her again and smiled warmly. She didn't protest when he leaned forward to kiss her. It was amazing how one minute she wanted to wring his neck because he was the biggest jackass on the planet and the next nothing else in the world mattered but him. She moaned when he laid her down. His body was warm against hers and she shuddered a little when he caressed her. She was truly in love with him. When she moved her hands under his shirt to feel his defined muscles, Link pulled away. She looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong? There's no point in getting shy now that we've come this far."

"I know… but… I've never done this before…," Link explained in a little voice, "What if I don't meet your expectations?" Midna's face flushed and she said, "Uh… Uh… It's not that big a deal! Er… We don't even have to do it right now! In fact, I feel like taking a walk!" She pushed him off of her and jumped up from the bed. Link watched as she scavenged for her missing clothes. She didn't know that he had them washed and there was no way she was going to find them so he watched her search a little longer, finding amusement in her anxious behavior.

"I had your clothes taken to the wash," he said finally. Midna stopped going through his large closet and glared coldly at him.

"How long were you planning on having me look until you finally said something?"

"Until now that it got boring."

"I hate you!"

"That's not nice. You should thank me! Those clothes were filthy!" Midna ignored him and tracked down the nearest servant and had her get her clothes. After Midna and Link got dressed, the couple decided to go out on a date. Link avoided all the places he'd gone with Illia, not deliberately of course. It just happened that way mostly because his subconscious was sublimating the guilt he felt for dumping the girl and going out with another all in less than twenty-four hour's time by having him avoid all those sacred places. Midna wasn't aware, and technically speaking Link wasn't either, so the two weren't hindered by any negative emotions. They were both high on their feelings of luuuurve.

"Hey Midna," the prince started. His companion looked at him over the tall, twelve and a half inch Skyscraper soda that was placed in-between them with big curious ruby eyes. Link stared at them for a moment, admiring their flare, until he remembered what he was going to say.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" Midna spit out the half of the soda she managed to down while Link was distracted and the boy stifled his laughter with a loud snort. He handed her a napkin and teased, "Jeez, what was that? Did your animalistic instincts take over for a moment?" The red head glared at him as she wiped away her mess.

"You dumbass. I was taken back by your… uh… damn! Why can't I ever think of something smart to comeback with??" When she saw the mischievous smile on Link's face she quickly said, "And don't make another smart ass comment about what I just said!"

"You make it so easy Midna. But I'll appease you and let that easy set up go. In return, you're gonna answer my question. Why'd you cut your hair?" Midna didn't answer him right away and he noticed that a solemn expression took residence on her face.

"Does… it look… bad?" Her voice was small and tears glistened in her eyes. She hadn't meant to get so emotional but she remembered how Fado reacted when he had seen it and the pain was still raw. She jumped when she felt a hand as it lay on her head. Looking up, she saw Link smiling at her affectionately as he gently caressed her short locks.

"No. Nothing looks bad on you," he answered. Midna smiled and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

"I'll admit though, I really did like your long hair. I'm gonna miss it."

"If it's you…I'll grow it back out and never cut it ever again…"

"Heh. Good. I'll like that." They finished the tall glass of pop, which went into Midna's stomach more than it did Link's, and went to do other stuff. Midna couldn't tell him why her hair was short but she figured it was better if he didn't know. She felt bad that she still couldn't be openly honest with him but that would change in time. Someday when the past was kept in the past she would be able to freely give all of herself to him.

--------

"What do you mean we're going to school tomorrow?" The prince looked at the girl beside him incredulously as he didn't fully understand what she didn't understand about what he had just said. They stopped walking and Link scratched his head sheepishly. It was already evening and the two were on their way home when Link had decided to give Midna tomorrow's agenda. Apparently, she wasn't satisfied by it.

"What do you mean what do I mean? It's just as I said, tomorrow we're going to school."

"No! Why can't we just spend the day together tomorrow too?"

"Why? Because we have school. Duh. It was kind of hard skipping today to be honest with you…"

"Link! You're love for me should be strong enough to push your duties aside!" The amplitude of her voice made both teens jump in shock. She covered her mouth and turned away from her boyfriend as her face flushed. Link sighed heavily.

"Midna that doesn't make any sense! Don't misunderstand, I do love you and I want to spend time with you but I have a whole lifetime to do that. _Right_ _now_ we have to finish school," he explained calmly. He laughed a little to himself finding humor in her childish behavior while Midna candidly observed him. In that moment, he seemed so mature, so much like the future king he was about to become. And he was right, she knew. But he was wrong too. They wouldn't have a lifetime together. He was going to be king. He was going to be king and Midna wasn't going to be around. She would only cause more trouble than she was worth if they were together. Every rose has a throne, and she didn't want to be the one to prick his perfect fingers.

"You can go… I won't," she muttered.

"What? Why not?"

"…Because…"

"No one's going to give you trouble Midna. I won't let them." His tone was firm and finalizing. Midna stared at him. He was radiating with purpose and she wanted to bask in it even for just a moment.

"Link…"

"You have me. I promise so trust me Midna." The girl didn't protest and when Link held his hand out to her she took it without hesitation. He led them back to his castle where she spent the night again. They slept in the same bed again and Midna was surprised that she could sleep with a guy without actually sleeping with him. She watched Link's face as he slept and felt dirty. He was like a sweet innocent child while she on the other hand was tainted and ruined. Did she deserve to be with him? And there was that other matter. What would Ganondorf think if he saw her like that with Link? Given, he was the one that encouraged her to be intimate, but he hadn't wanted her to fall in love. It shocking that she even concerned herself with such thoughts, after all she had never given her ex-lover much thought whenever she hooked up with any of her other boyfriends, but that was only because those boys weren't important and so Ganondorf wouldn't care much. But Link was different. Link _was_ important and that meant that she had to choose between them.

The slumbering prince stirred and slung an arm around Midna's torso possessively. He snuggled closer to her and she felt her heart jump in her chest. He always managed to arouse that kind of reaction out of her without having to do much of anything. The former Twilight Princess would give anything to be able to feel that way and to spend the rest of her nights the way she was that night. But what would she have to give up? She turned on her side and hugged him closer. It was obvious what her choice was.

--------

The next day at school, Midna was surprised that no one was giving her as much crap as they had when that article was printed a few days ago. In fact, everyone was overly nice to her. Their sudden kindness could've been contributed to the guilt they felt for the way they had treated her or it could have been because no one wanted to be on Link's bad side. Most of the time, Midna guessed it was the latter and she was reminded of just how superficial the world was.

She was glad that their circle of friends were supportive of the two's relationship. They were always open and that was one of the reasons she liked them. Though it hurt that none of them had had the courage to defend her when things had gotten tough like Link had, she could forgive them as long as they genuinely accepted her.

The most surprising thing of the day wasn't her classmates' behaviors however. The most surprising thing was when Illia came up to her after school and pulled her to the side to have a talk with her. The blonde fidgeted as she was clearly uncomfortable with being in Midna's presence. Midna was surprised that she was tolerant enough to see her face to face the way she was. After all, she was still sore from everything that had happened.

"I… I just wanted to say congratulations. Link's a great guy. He'll definitely make you happy," the Ordonian stated after a moment of strained silence, "And please treat him well." Midna smiled sadly.

"Don't worry. I plan on it." Illia smiled at her and Midna saw the tears in her eyes.

"I'm glad that I didn't lose to someone unworthy! You're a great girl Midna." With that final statement, Illia turned and walked away. She waved farewell before she was out of sight and Midna waved back. She felt awkward. Illia had displayed perfect sportsmanship by meeting with her. If it was Midna, she would curse the girl who had taken her man to eternal damnation. Was she really worthy?

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go," Link said. He held his hand out for her and Midna took it hesitantly. Did she really deserve this?


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13: What you need to know and don't**_

"Ashei… are those… city lights in the distance?"

"Yes your highness. We're almost within the city limits. Please rest. I'll awake you once we arrive in Castle Town, yeah?" The Princess was about to protest, but a week and a half of built up fatigue wouldn't allow her. Cuddling up next to Ashei, for warmth and the feeling of safety, Zelda closed her weary eyes and fell into a deep slumber. The ebony haired knight watched her.

Rescuing the princess turned out to be more difficult than she had originally thought it'd be. After managing to bust her out of the underground prison (once she actually found its location), Ashei had to keep Zelda out of sight from the watchful eyes of Gerudo guards. This was a hassle because Zelda was extremely weak and fragile after having been malnourished with a diet consisting of just water and anything else she could find in the cell and so she couldn't move fast if at all. It took several weeks to get out of the desert. She was in no condition for the travel necessary to get back to Castle Town. To build up the Princess's strength, Ashei had taken her to the home of Impaz, a Sheikah nurse that lived in her old abandoned village all alone. Ashei was well acquainted with the elderly woman because her father's extensive training often left the girl in worse states than the one Zelda was in. Impaz kindly doted on the young lady until she regained enough strength to stand on her own.

Zelda's recuperation took a week and by that time the Gerudo had discovered her disappearance and were sending search parties to find her. Zelda wasn't fully healed, but the two decided it was best for Impaz if they hurried back to their dominion. It was four days later when a supply truck arrived that was headed for Castle Town. When they explained the situation, the driver was all too happy to assist with aiding his Princess and happily obliged them transportation. Bidding Impaz farewell, the two joined him and made their ways back home.

Ashei was just as tired as her highness but she decided that she wouldn't go to sleep. She was her protector after all and so she was obligated to stay awake and protect her. Besides that, the truck driver kept stealing lustful glances and the both of them. She hoped he wouldn't try anything because she was too tired to kick his ass.

"You two could try to make my job a little easier, yeah?" The knight grunted, referring to Zelda and her brother. In truth, she was scared that the young prince was having a difficult time of his own back home. She wanted to be there protecting him just as much as she was there protecting Zelda. The princess stirred in her sleep and said, "I'm sorry… Ashei…"

Meanwhile Ashei's suspicions about Link being in trouble were just as well. Unbeknownst to the future heir to the throne of Hyrule, a publicity plot that involved him was being formulated.

Beth's shop wasn't doing too well despite the unique tastes of her ice cream. And because her shop wasn't doing well, she wasn't doing well. When she had left her parents, she had decided she was going to shed her old lifestyle altogether and make a name for herself in the big city. The youngun wanted to have a classy, high-end life in which she was lavished with expensive things, men, and money. To get that type of life, she had to first find a pool of wealth that was waiting to be had.

As she was familiar with business in marketing (thanks to her parents), she decided to try her luck at opening a shop of some kind. The loan she'd taken out to pay the rent of the little corner store she had found was a hefty price, but she remembered that it would be nothing compared to the money she was going to be making soon. To her pleasure, her ice cream was selling well. But it wasn't long before she realized that she was in competition with all the other ice cream shops around that were well established and had regular customers. After her opening week, people stopped coming. She wasn't making any money and that debt that seemed like nothing, now seemed like something of value which she was going to be paying for behind a jail cell if she didn't get her act together quick. In other words, she was in deep trouble.

What could she do to give herself and her ice cream a name? What could she do to set herself apart from the other vendors? What could she do to bring money into the shop? As she pondered over what to do to remedy the situation, Illia came into the shop. The blonde was looking for some comfort food and had chosen Beth's Spot because of its nostalgic value. As she ate, Beth watched her, seeing her as a dollar bill sign. Then she thought of all of Illia's friends and saw them as dollar bill signs. Then she focused on Illia's boyfriend, Link the Prince and soon-to-be future King of Hyrule. At that point in her musings, her perfect plan hit her like a smack to the face.

"Hey, you're dating his majesty, right, Illia?" Beth questioned. Illia started coughing on the ice cream she was trying to shallow. Beth hit her in the back extra hard and Illia stopped choking.

"We broke up," the girl said solemnly. Beth frowned slightly.

"Oh really?" She mumbled. That put a slight kink in her original plans but she was a master mind so she knew how to adjust the situation.

"But he's still around isn't he?" To this Illia looked at the girl in perplexity.

"I imagine so… Why?" Illia almost regretted that she had asked when she heard Beth's wicked laugh and saw her mischievous expression.

"I was just thinking… Do you want revenge for what he's done to you Illia? Maybe you can help me too…" Beth then proceeded to fill Illia in on the dubious workings of her inner mind.

Link, in the meanwhile, was busy with preparing for the upcoming midterms while also working on his coronation speech. His eighteenth birthday was less than a month away and he needed to hurry and write it. Unfortunately, he was practically straining his mind by trying to find something to write about.

"Ugh…," he grumbled.

"What's wrong with you?" Link looked up and saw Midna standing next to him. Her head was cocked to the side curiously and her bottom lip protruded slightly in a pout as she contemplated her boyfriend's appearance. She took Link's breath away. Just being in the same room with her was enough to make the adrenaline rush through his entire body. For a moment neither spoke and they just observed one another lovingly.

"Uh… it's nothing," the boy said after a while as he returned his gaze to his work. His breath hitched when Midna moved closer to him. She leaned over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of what he was doing but he wasn't doing much of anything except noticing how close and warm her body was.

"You're frustrated cuz you're doing too much," she stated simply, "You're such a workaholic." Link was brought out of his daze and he glanced up at the girl from the corner of his eye.

"And you're a good for nothing procrastinator. Aren't I supposed to be helping _you_ study?" Midna blushed cutely and shrugged.

"Oh yeah… Well, I don't feel like studying anymore."

"…What? What's up that all of a sudden? You can't be serious!" Link groaned. Midna laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry!"

"Oh don't give me that! I took the time out of my busy schedule to help you and now you're saying that it was for nothing!"

"Oh Link you're so melodramatic! You act like you weren't going to study anyway with me or not," the red head stated. Link turned fully in his chair to face her. She jumped back at the fierceness of his eyes, beastlike that they were and only amplified just a bit as he was growing frustrated with her.

"That's beside the point! You should have a little consideration for other people once in a while!" Hush fell in a thick sheet between the two. Link sighed and rubbed a hand threw his unruly hair when he saw Midna's sad facial expression. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings and the guilt he felt for doing so made him want to lay over and die.

"I'm sorry," she said in a little voice before he could, "I just… Really I just wanted to see you…" Link felt his cheeks warm and he looked away from her. She had moved back into Telma's place even though he said she could stay with him. Midna was right about going back home. After all, it wasn't fair making Telma worry so much and it was a little dangerous staying with Link all the time. Even though they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Midna was far from being a virgin, the two decided that they would wait. That decision was tested to the brink when she spent the night. On top of no longer "living together," Link had been so busy that he wasn't able to see as much of her as he wanted to. And he really wanted to. It had never occurred to him that she could be feeling the same way.

"You idiot…," Link said sharply, mostly from his frustration he had for his own stupidity and not from contempt, "If you wanted to see me… You didn't need to use an excuse like that." Without being able to control himself, he jumped from his seat and pulled Midna into a tight embrace.

"I love you…," he whispered. Midna hugged him back just as tightly and she mumbled, "I love you too…" Link pulled her away and stared into her eyes for a moment, cupping her cheek as he did so.

"Midna… spend the night tonight…" The girl's face flushed and she looked away from him.

"But… But Link I… You…" He tucked one of his masculine fingers under her chin and forced her to look at him. He smiled softly and said in a calm tone that defied the rushing emotions inside him, "It's okay… I'm ready if you are." Midna watched him for a moment and didn't say anything. Link's stomach twisted into a knot as he waited for her response.

"Okay." And with that one simple word, Midna had made his day. Heck, he thought in that one moment, if he were to die, he could die happy. And it seemed crazy to him. Link never knew anything like it. Of course, he loved his sister dearly, but it was something entirely different from his love for the beauty he held in his arms. That being said, he may have been so caught up with his feelings for the girl that his worry for Zelda's safety might have been snuffed just a bit.

--------

"You- What the hell do you think you're doing??" Instead of answering his question directly, Ashei glared viciously at the truck driver and her grip on the sword she held tightened.

"I think the real question is what the hell do you think you're doing, yeah? After all, you were the one that tried to touch her highness in an indecent way while I fell asleep, yeah?" Zelda stood behind Ashei and frowned at the truck driver but hers wasn't nearly as severe as Ashei's. The crazy woman was practically killing him with her eyes. The man gulped nervously.

"Now… there's no need to get violent…"

"Oh? You think so? Then what exactly do you think we should do about this, yeah?"

"I… I think… we… we should forget this ever happened and…," before he could finish his sentence, Ashei kicked him in the face. He fell backwards and blood gushed from his newly fractured nose.

"The hell I care what you think! You're in no position to suggest anything!" Ashei exclaimed. She dug her foot in the man's chest, causing him to gasp for air to breathe.

"Since she is the Princess, I'll leave your punishment up to her, yeah?" Zelda sighed and said, "Let him go Ashei. He's one of my subjects and he did get us this far after all…"

"Oh! Bless you! Goddesses bless the Princess!!"

"Oi! Shut-up! She may have let you go… but I… won't. Punishment commencing." Before anyone could do anything, Ashei performed her own punishment that she considered truly justified.

"You don't need this anymore do you?"

"GODDESSES HAVE MEEERRRCYY!!!"

Later…

"Ashei… I really don't think what you did was necessary… If people end up finding out about this, in such a time as this, it may be hard to arouse a fighting spirit within them…," Zelda claimed calmly. Ashei nodded in understanding and shamefully lowered her head.

"Forgive me your highness… If I had not fallen asleep then none of this would've happened…"

"It's alright. I forgive you. Now please, raise your head. I don't want to die before I get to see my little brother again!" The knight obeyed her lady's command and looked up just when she was about to run into a smaller car that was traveling in the opposite lane. Reacting to avert a head on collision, Ashei turned the stirring wheel and swerved the large truck back into the correct lane. Zelda let out the breath she had been holding in and fastened her safety belt.

"Don't worry, yeah? I'll protect you."

"My life is in your hands…," Zelda said and then under her breath she added, "That _is_ cause for concern…"

--------

"This is where he lives," Illia said. Beth and the camera crew looked in complete shock and amazement.

"What a castle," Beth exclaimed, "He really _is_ royalty!"

"No kidding," was the blonde's sarcastic reply. Beth looked at her and noticed her melancholic expression. She slung an arm around her friend's shoulders and squeezed her close in a comforting manner.

"Don't worry Illia. You're doing the right thing."

"Yeah, listen to your friend," the reporter, the infamous Tatl, agreed. The two Ordonians looked at her ruefully and Beth jabbed an accusing finger in the strawberry blonde's face.

"You just make sure you keep your end of the deal!"

"Oh. No need to worry, if what you claim is true then this will be the biggest news story in ages! Just think about it! Everyone's been dying to know about Hyrule's Royal Family! It's sad that ever since the King and Queen were killed the media has been strictly prohibited to say anything about the two siblings and they are a mystery even to the people of this kingdom. This will be a major break through!" Beth yawned boredly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Just remember who gave you this information and give 'em the reward."

"Oh of _course_ the both of you will be rewarded splendidly for this service! You've done a great deed for this news broadcasting station as well as the people of Hyrule," Tatl claimed. She patted Beth's head and then she went to help her cameraman set up. Illia and Beth watched and then the later girl started laughing.

"Can you imagine a news channel that's ratings are so low it would resort to such underhanded methods to get people to start watching? It's pathetic in a way," the brunette stated. Illia's stomach turned and she lowered down to her haunches, hugging herself.

"Illia?"

"… What does that make us then? You're shop is doing so bad that you would resort to these extreme methods just to get publicity…" Beth's face flushed and she frowned angrily.

"Hey! Watch it! You can't judge us! You're on the same boat! Just who do you think led us here in the first place? Huh? You're so jealous that you'd throw away your integrity to get back at him! In a way you're _worse_ than us!" Beth stopped her verbal assault when she saw that Illia had started crying. Feeling guilty, Beth knelt down in front of her and patted her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm just a little nervous. Do you realize how much trouble we could get in if we're found out? Debt would be the least of my problems… But it's okay right? After all, only one household out of every ten watches channel five. So not a lot of people will see the report, but it'll be enough to help with business… You did the right thing Illia. He deserves it!" Illia wanted to agree. She wanted to be as surefooted as Beth and Tatl, but she couldn't get her spirits high enough. It felt so wrong for something that they claimed was so right.

Link in the meantime was unaware of the developing mess right outside his castle walls. He sat nervously on his extravagant bed, unsure of how to conduct himself. When he'd suggested that they do it, it had been spurred on by all the emotions raging within him. He seemed so sure five hours ago, now he sat like a peevish child unsure of how to conduct himself.

"Get a grip," he told himself, "It's not a big deal…" And yet it _was_ a big deal. If something went wrong it could mean disaster for the rest of their lives. And he was going to be king soon. If he made a mistake now…

Suddenly all his worries were pushed aside. He inhaled sharply when he saw Midna standing before him in nothing but a skimpy tank top and lacy panties. She smiled, but it wasn't her usual girly smiles, it was seductive and sexy and Link could already feel his body reacting to her. She walked over to him slowly, pulling one of the straps of her tank down, revealing more of her silky skin. She added emphasis to her womanly curves by shaking her hips in rhythm with her breezy steps. When she stood before him, they stared at one another hungrily and then Link pulled her towards him. She fell on the bed and the boy started mauling her body like a hungry animal.

Midna closed her eyes and relished the feel of his skin against hers. There was nothing that she wanted more than this, becoming one with the only guy she would ever truly love.

"You're so… soft," Link whispered breathily. Midna smiled and took his face into her hands. They looked at each other again.

"And it's all for you… You can have it all," she said. Link's eyes bore deep into hers and she saw them become hallow with nothing but desire. It was a little unnerving because it was the kind of look that all the others had given her before.

Like Ganondorf. He had also whispered sweet nothings in her ear and claimed that he loved her. All of them had. She thought that she had learned never to trust the things men spoke because they were only speaking in their own self interest. She thought she knew better but here she was once again. What was making this time any different? Was she blinded by her own feelings again?

When Link's hand snaked its way underneath her shirt she felt a painful tug at her heart. She knew there was no one else she wanted to touch her that way, but what if he was like the rest? What if he used her and then threw her away? She couldn't bare it if Link did that. It would kill her.

When Link tugged the thin tank off of her, she felt a blast of cold air. But he would be well in his right, she decided. After all, she was going to do the same thing. Guilt began to build as she remembered her agreement with Ganondorf. She still hadn't told him. Maybe she didn't trust anyone because she couldn't trust herself. She always felt bad for the things she'd done. Maybe she really didn't deserve happiness.

After all, here she was, about to make love to her boyfriend whom she was betraying. Ganondorf had sent her a telepathic message in regards to Zelda. He said he was going to kill her and that it was Midna's chance. They hadn't heard from Ashei or the Princess in a month and some weeks. Maybe he had already done it and here she was acting like nothing was happening. Tears started streaming down her eyes and she sobbed softly. Link stopped kissing her and he looked at her.

"Midna… why are you crying?" His voice was soft and tinted with a hint of concern. His worry only made her cry harder. And she had really doubted him earlier? He loved her. He loved her and she didn't deserve it.

"Link…," her voice was weak and strained against the large lump that had formed in her throat. Link's eye brows furrowed together and he looked at her in fear.

"What's wrong?" Shaking her head, Midna pushed him off of herself and she ran out of the room. Link watched dazedly at the spot where she had just been and then he shook the shock off. Pulling on a pair of jeans, he ran out after her. Midna was fully dressed and was pulling on her jean jacket when he reached the top of the stairs.

"Midna! Midna wait!" She ignored his cries and ran to the front door. Link bolted after her. What happened? Had he done something wrong?

--------

"Good evening Hyrule. This is channel five reporter Tatl and tonight we have a special report," Tatl said. She stepped out of the camera's line of sight and revealed Link's extravagant castle. Nearby, Beth and Illia watched with bated breath.

"We're standing in front of the famed Grand Castle of Hyrule which has recently been renovated and in which the royal siblings who govern Hyrule dwell. For nearly a decade the two have been shrouded in a cloak of mystery but tonight thanks to two valuable sources, we will shed this veil. Please note that it has been outlawed to report anything on the royal family. Tonight, we are making a stand and giving the people what they deserve… A chance to know their Princess and Prince." The cameraman followed after Tatl as she climbed the massive stairs that led to the front door. Beth and Illia watched along with more than just one out of every ten households. All of Hyrule was tuned into channel five.

When they reached the doors, the guards standing guard raised their spears.

"No one is allowed beyond this point without proper authorization," they said simultaneously.

"You two aren't going to be the force that opposes us are you? I'm representing the people of Hyrule when I say let us see our Princess and Prince!" When she tried to get through again they blocked her. None of them were prepared for someone rushing out from inside. Midna collided harshly into the guards and Tatl and all four of them fell. Moments later, Link revealed himself and he looked curiously at the mess of people on his door step.

"What… what is this?" Regaining her bearings first, Tatl stood.

"Your majesty!"

"Who are you? What's that camera doing here? What's going on?" It was the comment that shocked the nation of Hyrule into silence as everyone watched the teen on their T.V. screens.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14: We need You**_

"Your majesty! Smile at the camera and say a few words to your subjects," Tatl said excitedly. The cameraman focused on Link and then zoomed in on his face that was pale with fright.

--------

"WHAO! That's Link!!!!" Coro cried. His sisters looked at him curiously.

"Yeah. We know it's the prince," Iza claimed. Coro shook his head.

"No! It's Link!"

"What? Don't tell me you know the Prince," Hena said with a hint of disbelief. Her brother nodded furiously.

"He's one of my best friends at school…," he explained. He sat back down and stared at the T.V. dumbly.

"I can't believe he's the Prince and he never said a word to any of us…"

---------

"Link??"

"Is that someone you know Tetra?" The blonde nodded in the affirmative to her mother's question then she looked at her the rest of her friends. Aryll was frozen stiff and Ivan's mouth was hanging open in shock. Shad straightened his glasses and blinked in confusion.

"… Well… imagine that… And it looks like Midna's with him as well."

And so were the reactions of some of his friends. Most of Link's fellow classmates reacted in much of the same way. Link could somehow feel them watching him with eyes that demanded an explanation. He could feel his kingdom watching him and criticizing him. He was rigid with fear.

"Your majesty, to let the people get to know you a little better, I'm going to ask you some questions. I understand that you attend a local branch of the nationwide public school. Do you not?"

"How… How'd you know… that…?"

"So it's true! Then is it also true that you had a relationship with one of the female students there? Illia?" The camera's light seemed to be burning him. Link was sweating profusely.

"I… I was… involved… yes…"

"Then is it also true that because your relationship with her was so serious that a fan club was made in its honor? And was it because of this fan club that this tabloid, _The Gossip Stone_, published a story about your secret affair with this girl?" Tatl held a copy of the tabloid up to the camera so people could see and then she showed Link. His throat was dry. He couldn't speak. Midna watched him and then the need to protect him overwhelmed her.

"That's enough! It's none of your business," she interjected. She hugged Link as a means of shielding him from the eyes of the millions who were watching him, but her little body didn't do much compared to his larger one. Link looked at her numbly and mumbled, "Midna…" Tatl seemed unfazed by the girl's sudden outburst and she asked, "Are you the girl that was in this photo? What do you have to say for yourself about tearing the two lovers apart? You are aware that they have an extensive history together since his family used to vacation in Ordona where Illia is from, are you not?" Midna frowned unattractively and slapped the microphone out of Tatl's hand.

"It's nothing that concerns you or the rest of Hyrule! Just leave him alone!"

"Are you aware of your position? This is the chance that the people have been waiting for and you're in the way!" For a moment the two stood glaring at one another until Midna forcefully pushed Tatl aside and faced the camera dead-on.

"If you people want to know more about your royals then stop doing irresponsible things like this! Have more faith in them and let them show you when they're ready!!" After saying so, Midna pushed the camera away and pulled Link back into the castle.

"You guys take care of them!" She called over her shoulder, addressing the two guards that had been standing by idly. Nodding, they obeyed her command and started escorting the newscast off the premises. Beth and Illia looked at one another.

Midna pulled Link all the way back to the room and closed the door. The boy sat numbly on his sofa and stared blankly out in front of him.

"Link… Link are you alright?" Midna asked gently. She took a seat next to him and watched him critically. His blue eyes were lifeless and he seemed stuck.

"It's okay. How many people are going to believe them anyway? After all, no one watches channel five news." Link nodded and he slumped in his seat with his back against the cough. Midna felt an affinity for his mood and also leaned back. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"It's not that big a deal is it? After all, if anyone _was_ watching, then they were going to find out eventually…" Link shook his head in disagreement and he turned his face away from her.

"Midna… you aren't from around here… you don't know… what happened ten years ago…"

"I imagine that you're going to tell me right? Link?" He gulped noisily and stood up. He began pacing the room back and forth as though nervous. He had a troubled expression on his face. Midna watched feeling his nervousness rub off on her.

"… The media… The media's supposed to be the information highway right? It's supposed to be used as a means to transport information to people who would otherwise have no way of knowing the information right? It's a tool to help the common people learn things…," he started, "Before ten years ago, it wasn't against the law to televise or publish things that regarded the royal family. It was open so that the people would be able to understand their rulers better and see what they did. This system was based on the way the media works in Holodrum. You know, everything about Holodrum's President as well as matters that concern the government in general is shared with the people..."

"It was okay, and it helped my father and grandfather and great grandfather run the country smoothly because in exchange for learning what they planned to do, they learned how the people felt about it. It worked. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as learning too much and in learning too much, people's lives get endangered. You want to know why my parents were killed Midna? It was because the media leaked out some crucial information that my father wanted to keep secret…" Link's voice broke and he kicked a wall angrily. Midna flinched from the cracking noise that sounded from his actions.

"What… What was this information?" Link looked at her sadly. Tears were evident in his eyes.

"… On the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Hyrule's creation…," he started, "I was just born… and… the people were happy… A prince had never been born to the Hyrulean Royal Family before… And since I was named Link, they took it as a sign that all the war and strife Hyrule had to endure over the two hundred and fifty years of its existence was finally over. They didn't know… they didn't know that it… that it was all fake… I'm not… Midna, I'm not really of royal blood…," he said. The information took a moment to sink in but when it did, Midna looked at him with an expression in which all her confusion was evident.

"What? Link? Link, what are you saying?" The boy's bottom lip quivered and he pulled on his hair.

"I… I'm not really a prince Midna," he repeated, "A major drought occurred that year and the farmlands were suffering. Since most of Hyrule's trade was agricultural, and the economy relied heavily on the businesses that trading made possible, a lot of people were also suffering. My biological parents were herders from Ordona who were also affected negatively by the drought. When my father, the king, came to see how the crops were doing, they begged him to take me in because they had no money to care for me and I would've died if he hadn't. Feeling sympathy for me, he took me in."

"Luckily, my mother, the queen, had been sick and bedridden for severely months so when the announcement of my supposed birth reached the people, they weren't suspicious. My father named me Link because he wanted me to be seen as some icon of good fortune like the hero in the legends that came as a beacon of hope during a time of despair. He got his wish. People started speculating that my birth was the answer to their prayers and it renewed their vitality. The truth, however, is that I'm a nobody from a small farming village in the Faron Providence. I'm a nobody. Somehow, the truth about me started to circulate through a small group of highly superstitious people through tabloids and such things eight years afterward. They started rumors that my father was sending the kingdom to hell because of his lie. My father tried to have it silenced but his attempts were viewed as confirmation by these radicals and so… and so… one day… while my so-called parents were out to address the people about the turn of fortune in regards to the revived economy, they were assassinated."

"As you can imagine, it caused a great uproar and any slanderous writing in regards to me was immediately disposed of. The writers and this radical group of people were disposed as well. That's when the law was passed that no one could publish or report anything about the royal family. It was so sad. Just when Hyrule was at its peak after such a hard time, its rulers were killed. Me, a nobody, was the reason the king and queen of Hyrule met a cruel and untimely death… I'm the reason that Hyrule doesn't have a future… I… I..." He started crying hysterically and Midna felt her cheeks dampen with her own tears.

"Oh Link…" Before she could say anything else, Link began a violent rampage around his room. Caught in his own feelings of agony, despair, and frustration, he tore the long green velvet drapes from his windows. Then he lifted a chair and sent it sailing through the glass panes. The million shards of broken glass littered the balcony just outside. They glistened in the moon's light, which gave the shards the appearance of fallen stars. Midna watched him. His face was red with pain. Tears were streaming from his eyes and he was destroying his room. She'd never seen him this way. He was always so calm, collected, poised. The only time he lashed out was when he was fighting someone for her sake. Now he was fighting against his own inner turmoil. At first she was scared, but when she saw that he was more hurt than angry, she got up from the sofa to subdue him.

"Link… stop… Link! Stop it!" She cried. She hugged him when he started tearing up his papers and his books that were lying around on his desk. He stopped his onslaught and welcomed Midna's comforting embrace. Together they knelt on the floor in one another's arms while crying vociferously.

Midna had no idea that he was hurting this way. She had no idea at all as she was caught up in her own sorrow. Link gripped onto her so tightly that it hurt, but it was okay. It let her know just how much pain he was in.

"Link…," she said softly, "You're not a nobody and it wasn't your fault… It wasn't your fault…" Link started crying harder and Midna stroked his hair lovingly.

"Hey, do you remember when we first met?" Link's sobs lowered an octave and he nodded. A smile and dreamy look filled Midna's face as she recalled the fond memory.

"You were so rude to me! But even then I liked you. You were so… captivating…," she said airily, "Do you remember when I asked you what your name was?" Link pulled away from her and gulped a little, his tears nearly ceased flowing.

"… Yeah… I told you and you said that I should have name a like Ralph or Colin because I looked like some kind of pushover…" They laughed a little.

"Then after that I said that Link's a popular name, but…"

"But out of all the boys it's given to, only one is actually destined for greatness," Link finished. Midna smiled warmly and nodded.

"And I stand by that. The one destined to do great things for this country is you Link." The boy stared at the girl before him for a few moments before looking away abruptly.

"I… I'm nothing… I don't even deserve anything that I have…" Midna shook her head and pulled his face back towards her.

"That's not true. Don't you see, don't you see how your birth was the pivotal moment in Hyrule's history? The King could have left you there to die, but he took you in and raised you to be someone great! When your biological parents gave you up, they gave you a better future because they knew that you could become someone great! Your subjects were so happy that you were born that they believed you were the goddess' gift to them. And… Before I met you Link, I was suffering so bad… I hated myself and I didn't think I was worthy of happiness but you changed me. You made me feel differently. You became my knight in shining armor…" Midna's voice broke and she started crying again. When Link moved to comfort her, she pulled away from his embrace.

"Link… if you weren't here… nothing would be right… You exist for a purpose! Don't tarnish your parents' sacrifices and deaths by saying that you're nothing because… because to me… to Hyrule… you're everything!" Link pulled Midna close into another embrace and she cried into his shoulder. He kissed her head repeatedly and rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

"Even now… when I'm supposed to be comforting you… You're the one comforting me…"

"Midna, thank-you so much… Thank-you so, so much…"

"No… Thank-you Link… Hey… sorry about running off before. I was… I was in a bad way. If you want… we can try again…" Link pulled away abruptly with a slight blush staining his cheeks.

"Are you serious?" In answer to his question, Midna simply pressed her lips against his and kissed him passionately. At first he seemed unsure but then allowed his body to take over with its natural impulses. As they made love Midna thought to herself, _"That's right Link… You're this nation's future… You can make a change… so please… never doubt yourself… I need to believe it too, that change is possible. I need to believe that there is hope for a brighter future."_

--------

Zelda stared at all the news reporters incredulously. There were people from at least ten different networks crowded on her front lawn. Not only that, but some of the city dwellers were there as well. She doubted that was a homecoming celebration to celebrate her safe return. She didn't go out to greet her people and instead she sat in the truck thinking of an alternative. It wasn't that she particularly hated the publicity, it was just that she had no idea what her brother had been up to in her absence and it made her nervous.

"Hey Ashei. I'm going in through the back way, cover for me?"

"Aye." With that, the two went about their ways.

When Link awoke he felt like he was floating on cloud nine. Last night was so wild and unexpected. He was happy to have it end on a positive note. He sat up and stretched his tight limbs. His body was pulsing. He could still feel her. The memory of what transpired between them that night made his heart race. He wanted to hold her in his arms. When he looked beside him, where he expected to see Midna, he saw instead the mischievous look on his sister's face.

"You have got some explaining to do little brother. A lot, a lot, a lot." Link's face flushed in embarrassment.

"What the hell are you doing in my room? Get out!"

--------

The two siblings sat in the study. Zelda sat on the desk and let her legs dangle and swing freely imitating a child. She smiled happily at her brother and he in turn tried to avoid looking at her by focusing his gaze on the carpet.

"I can't believe you had a girl in your room last night…"

"Whatever."

"And you made a big scene too! They keep playing the footage of the impromptu interview over and over and over again! It's sensational!"

"Hm."

"You should see the front yard! It's _crawling_ with people! I can't believe you! No. I take that back! I always knew you were a secret attention whore! You just didn't like having to share the spotlight with me huh? I see! You're so sly little brother!" The bubbly monarch started laughing and Link enjoyed hearing it. He missed it. He missed her. Immensely. Even though he felt like she couldn't fully accept him since he wasn't her blood relative, Link couldn't deny that she was a very important person to him and not having her around was difficult. He was too ecstatic for words about her safe return. When Zelda stopped laughing she studied her brother's rigid posture as he sat on the sofa a few feet away from her.

"I was gonna say that you've changed a lot but here you go with your usual stoic behavior! Aren't you even a little bit happy to see me?" When Link didn't respond, Zelda felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. It was true that growing up with him had left her unsurprised by such behavior, but she couldn't deny that it hurt her. She wanted so badly for him to understand that she loved him like a brother no matter where his origins lay.

"Oh… I see… Since you have a girlfriend now, maybe it would have been better for me to have stayed with Ganondorf after al-"

"You idiot! How could you say such inconsiderate things? I mean do you ever listen to yourself talk? The things you say… are so… moronic!" At first Zelda was going to chastise him for talking so coldly to his dear older sister, but when she saw his tears, she stopped. In fact, she froze completely. Link never cried. The only time he cried was after their parents were killed. Then any other time, it was her who cried. Maybe he had changed more than she had thought.

Impulsively, she went over to comfort him. She hugged him and was surprised when he hugged her back.

"You dummy… I… I thought I'd lost you…," he muttered into her shoulder. Zelda smiled despite the tears that tugged at the corner of eyes.

"Silly little brother… I'm not going anywhere. At least not for a while."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15: Just where do your loyalties lie?**_

"So?"

"So what?"

"You know… so, so…"

"No I don't know! That's why I'm asking!" Zelda huffed irately and Link felt his eyebrow twitch from the growing frustration he was feeling. How was it that she was getting irritated when he was the one having a hard time comprehending the words she was speaking. Or more accurately, the meaning of the words she was speaking.

They were in her room now, having migrated from the study because Zelda was famished and it was her first time inside her chambers since the renovations were completed. Link hadn't so much as looked at her room for fear that the longing feeling he felt in her absence would overwhelm him and make him want to behave in the embarrassing manner he had earlier. He had cried! Again! In less than twenty-four hours he'd thrown a tantrum and cried like a wuss. To add the cherry on top of that cake of bruised egos, he was in his sister's very girly room. If that wasn't a blow to his manhood he didn't know what was. And because of this, he was put in an even less tolerable mood than he usually was, so Zelda's childish behavior only added fuel to the fire.

"I'm talking about that girl! Who is she?"

"What girl? Who are you talking about?"

"Stop playing dumb!"

"Zelda, no one can play dumb better than you … if you're even playing at all…" Link chuckled a little at his own joke and then he looked at his sister to see how she would react. She glared at him with narrow eyes.

"You foolish little boy," she cooed mockingly, bruising Link's pride even more, "I'm talking about the girl who spent the night with you! Who was she?"

"How do you know it was a girl?" Both siblings looked at one another without speaking for a moment and then Zelda said, "… You prefer men Link?"

"No! I was joking… Anyway, it was… Midna…" Zelda gasped loudly at his confession and Link jumped.

"What is it?"

"Oh. My. _Gosh_! The same Midna who was in your letter? The one who called you an asshole?? That same Midna?"

"Er… yeah… It's creepy that you remember that kind of stuff…"

"Shut-up! It was one of the only letters you sent me and while I was imprisoned, it gave me comfort! Now then, back to the subject at hand. This Midna, was she your first?"

"What??"

"Uh huh. I see. So does that mean you love her? Is she the one you're going to marry?" Link's voice caught in his throat. He had nearly forgotten that he had to get married on top of his coronation. His cheeks warmed slightly as he thought about how it'd be to wake up with Midna beside him everyday and share nights like the one before more often. It made him happy, and he couldn't imagine anyone else. Zelda watched the soft smile that formed on her brother's face and she swooned girlishly. Link snapped out of his reveries and he looked at her curiously.

"What the hell's with that look?"

"It's so cute! You're in luuuuuuurrrvvvvvvve! I never thought it would happen," Zelda explained, "I'm glad you chose her. I was kinda rooting for her to be honest with you. I knew if she didn't take any of your moodiness from the start, then she would be the perfect one to share the rest of your life with!"

"Hey now, wait a minute. I didn't say I was going to marry her…"

"But you are, right? So stop being so shy and just accept it already." Link grunted and started grumbling under his breath. Zelda watched him for a moment before smiling. She didn't get to say that she wanted Link to marry Midna because she had changed him, in Zelda's opinion, for the better. He was completely different from the person she had left all those months ago. He was no longer the smart alecky brat, but now the mature man.

"Anyway, I think the real important thing we should be talking about is this whole thing about the Gerudos," Link said. Zelda stopped staring at him, admiring the man he had become, and simply sighed exasperatedly.

"Right. I think you know that we can't let things stand the way they are now. Ganondorf is after the throne of Hyrule. He wants to destroy us and he's serious about it too. I think his kidnapping me should be considered an indirect declaration of war. And he could be mobilizing an army as we speak," the girl explained in a serious manner. Link listened to her intently, contemplating her words.

"Perhaps… there's a way of salvaging our relations without blood… If we listen to his demands…" He got only silence as his answer and then he was caught off guard when a frilly pink pillow collided with his head.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself! I can't believe you would even consider trying to appease him! Don't you know how much toil I had to endure?? Link, I nearly died!" Link stared at his sister in shock. She had never gotten so angry before. He gulped nervously because he was afraid of the way she'd react after what he said next.

"… I know it must have been hard for you Zelda… but… We have to think about our people. Why should we have them risk their lives because you have a grudge against him?" Zelda's mouth dropped and she looked at her brother incredulously.

"Link… Do you realize what you're saying?? This is… What he did wasn't just against me! It was against all of Hyrule!" Link felt sorry for his sister. She was hurting badly.

"Don't get me wrong Zelda. I'm taking your abduction to heart, I really am, but the fact of it remains that the people's lives weren't put in any danger by it. It… It was more like if something had happened to you, it wouldn't necessarily be a reason for the whole kingdom to get involved. After all, I'm around so… For instance, in terms of war you would've just been an honorable sacrifice. You see?"

"… Link! What is _wrong_ with you!? This… he… He's a menace and he's… he's going to destroy… He's trying to destroy Hyrule! What don't you understand??" Zelda exclaimed through her sobs. Link buried his face in his pillow versus seeing the tears he had quelled from his sister.

"Zelda… you're irrational because you're still affected by the kidnapping but the fact remains that no one's been harmed by it so I won't put the people in harm by having them fight a war just because you're bitter. Now if Ganondorf is truly aiming for Hyrule's destruction, then I'll just improve the national security. Alright? Do you feel better now?"

"_NO_! I hate you Link! I hate you! Get out of my room! I can't stand looking at you! Go!!" Unable to refuse Zelda's request when she was in such a state, Link quickly got up and left the room. Zelda watched him and then after the door closed behind his retreating back, she started crying harder because even though she was upset by the things he said, she couldn't deny that he was in fact correct. He couldn't risk the lives of his subjects over a personal falling out with an ally. She hated how much of a child she'd become while her brother had only progressed into the rational man that would be ruling Hyrule soon. But he still didn't understand that they were in some danger because there was no way Ganondorf would be letting go of his ambitions so easily and on top of that, Hyrule's existence could be erased entirely if that mirror wasn't returned to its normal state. She had to hurry and restore the balance between dimensions before she could worry about anything else.

Of course, since the princess was a big procrastinator, she decided she could put off looking for the key to the Twilight and get to know the people that had helped Link grow up instead. That's why she decided to visit his school.

It was a pain in the neck getting around town now that everyone was aware of whom the royal siblings were. Well, that was in regards to the two new celebrities, but other people seemed to be using the publicity to their advantage. After channel five made the break through, other news channels and newspapers wanted to get in on the latest scoop so they snooped around for information. It was recently discovered that the owner of a local ice cream parlor had spilled the beans. Her name was Beth or whatever and she seemed to be as big a sensation as the monarch duo. Zelda wondered what her relationship with Link was. She'd ask him later.

But as she walked to his school, people stopped her just to get a good look at her, or ask her questions. Zelda was polite as addressed her subjects. Most of them weren't as bitter as she'd thought they'd be. But what could they be bitter about? After all, the two had been running the kingdom pretty smoothly so there was no need for hate. Hate from the subjects was not something Zelda would take lightly.

Anyway, when she finally got to the school, reporters were there as well, bombarding the students with questions about the prince. By now Zelda was fed up with it all.

"So, would you say that you are a close friend of his highness?" One reporter asked a blonde student. Zelda noticed that the girl was very beautiful despite her weird hairstyle. She obviously wasn't a shy person.

"Oh yeah! Link is one of my best buds! I mean, we do a lot of stuff together!" She exclaimed. Another blonde that was standing in the aforementioned girl's shadow, decided to speak up, "Yeah, Link is great! He's like a brother to me! He gets really mad when my boyfriend Ivan does something to upset me! It's really cute!" By now, the rest of the reporters had shifted over to the two, obviously having found gold in a coal mine. Tetra and Aryll started at all the flashing cameras and shouting reporters. Aryll yelped and hid more behind Tetra who started batting at the cameras angrily. That's when Zelda came to the rescue.

"When will the Prince arrive?" One reporter asked.

"He usually gets here about this time…," Tetra said.

"Unfortunately, he will not be attending classes today. He is very busy preparing for his coronation," Zelda said. The frenzy ceased and everyone focused on the lovely lady that had decided to intervene. Zelda smiled warmly and took Aryll and Tetra by the shoulders as she guided them towards the entrance of the school. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Could you please leave the premises. Since there isn't anything left here for you, you guys should call it a day and let these students get back to their school work. Thank-you!" With that said, the reporters were left to watch as everyone entered the school.

"Oh my gosh!! You're Link's older sister!!" Tetra exclaimed dramatically. Zelda flipped some hair over her shoulder nonchalantly and smirked. After getting away from the paparazzi madness, Zelda had decided to reveal her identity. Obviously the two were way past enthusiastic to know that she, the princess of Hyrule, Link's older sister, had saved them from info hungry reporters.

"That's riiight!" She said, "Sorry for coming unannounced like this, but I really wanted to see how Link's school was. Oh! And I wanted to meet all of his friends too of course."

"O…of course…," Aryll mocked. She and Tetra exchanged excited looks before they looked back at Zelda. They pulled her by the arms and started showing her around the school, each talking nonstop. And that was how it was for the majority of the day because the two served as Zelda's unofficial, personal tour guides as they gave her the 411 about everything. Zelda was ecstatic to meet all of Link's classmates and they were excited to meet her as well. Everyone was just as Link had described them in the letter. Zelda had taken a personal liking to Shad as well. Him being Tetra's boyfriend didn't put her off in the slightest. Besides the students, all the teachers tried to talk to her about the public school system and Zelda listened, making notes on important things that she wanted to bring to Link's attention when she returned to the castle. All the day's excitement finally took its toll on her bladder so when she had to use the restroom, Zelda decided to leave Tetra and Aryll in class since they were missing out on her behalf. The young woman walked the halls confidently having thought that she had memorized the school like the back of her hand. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't.

"Man. I'm lost. How embarrassing… Oh! Excuse me!" Zelda said. She was addressing a lone, young, blonde girl who was at the water fountain. The girl looked up, saw that it was Zelda who had called out to her, and bolted off in the other direction. No one had ever reacted that way before. Without thinking, Zelda took off after her and was surprised that she managed to catch up. Of course, she was tired as hell when she finally grabbed her by the arm and came to a complete stop.

"Jeez! … Are you… trying… to… kill me?" The princess asked between long gasps for breath.

"N…no your highness… I apologize…"

"Well… I'll accept your apology after you direct me to the nearest wash room."

"Yes… your highness…" Zelda straightened up and held on to the girl's arm, afraid that she might run off again if she let go. The girl, however, obediently led Zelda to the nearest bathroom and even waited for the princess to finish. As Zelda dried her hands, she watched the girl's face curiously.

"Thank you."

"No p…problem… your highness. Sorry for running away the way I did it's just…"

"Yes?" The girl shook her head and looked away.

"Nothing. Sorry."

"Hm. You know, you would make a great track star. Do you play any sports?"

"No."

"Then how'd you learn to run so fast?"

"Uh… I learned it from chasing goats in Ordona."

"Aha! Now I know why you look so familiar! You're Illia aren't you!!" The girl's face flushed and she nodded slowly. Zelda smiled and patted her head with sisterly affection.

"My, my you've grown a lot. Link wasn't kidding. Has it really been this long?"

"I'm afraid so, your highness."

"Oh come off the formalities already. You know you can address me as sister. Just because we've grown older doesn't mean that things between us have changed. Now then. You tell me everything! We have a lot of catching up to do!" So they did. Illia told Zelda everything about what happened after the king and queen were assassinated and how she ended up in Castletown. She explained her unrequited love for Link and how it devastated her, leaving her to get her revenge. Zelda listened intently, withholding her judgments until Illia was finished speaking.

"So… Link loved Midna the entire time eh? I'm so sorry Illia…"

"It's okay sister. It wasn't meant to be."

"I'm sure I wouldn't feel so uncertain if I knew what kind of person that girl was, but she's been near impossible to find."

"Well if you haven't seen her around by now, she probably skipped school today too."

"What? Too? She skips school often?"

"Yeah. She's not exactly an 'A' student like Link is. But then again, she isn't like Link in a lot of ways. But they say opposites attract so…"

"Where are her parents? Do they know about this?"

"Well. She hasn't got any parents. Telma takes care of her because she came here last year by herself. I don't even think she's from any part of Hyrule. She's got a weird accent…" Zelda stopped listening. She had just wanted to get an idea of who Midna was, but she got more than that. Zelda had found what she was looking for.

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A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I was very busy you know with living. Anyway, sorry to leave you guys with a cliffy like this. And sorry if it's short. It was longer but when I edited it, this was the end product. Anyway, I want to have the next chapter up soon so don't fret too much. And don't forget to review!


	16. Chapter 16

**_A/N: _**Just to avoid some confusion, the italicized portions are flashbacks that happened after Midna bumped into Zelda, which happened after Zelda's conversation with Illia in the last chapter. Yeah. That oughta clear things up. But if not, you know what to do. Leave me a review and I'll answer your questions straight away. Wah! Three more chapters left people! I'm gonna miss writing this! **_

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**_Chapter 16: Following the narrow path or the winding road_**

Midna was the first person out at the sound of the last bell of the day. She was in a hurry to get to Link before his sister did because she needed to be the one to talk to him first.

When had she gotten so soft? She wondered silently to herself as she walked to his place. When she had first arrived in Hyrule, she was only looking out for her best interests. But little by little, she had started becoming aware of other people's interests. Like now for instance. It was in her interests to continue to be with Link and possibly live happily ever after with him like in a fairy tale or something. She, however, was pushing that aside to accommodate Link's best interests, which couldn't allow them to be together and live happily ever after. He didn't know it yet, but it was so. As soon as Midna saw the princess, she immediately saw how frail looking she was. True, the princess's charisma made her glow in her own brilliance, but her physical body looked starved and weak. Zelda looked as though half of her life was taken from her during her short time in Ganondorf's grasps. And whose fault was that? Midna hadn't had any direct involvement, but she was still involved, which made it her fault as well. If Link knew that she was the reason his sister probably wouldn't live to see past fifty, how could he ever want to be with her? That was why she had to end it.

The guilt was overbearing and the pain was overwhelming, but she had to do what was right versus what she wanted. That had been a lesson that was learned the hard way. If she could, Midna knew she would go back in time and stop her past self from giving in to Ganondorf's temptation and her own selfishness. Unfortunately for her, no such thing was possible and so she could only do right by fixing what she had done wrong now.

She was in front of Link's castle in no time and had consequently beaten Zelda as well. Taking a deep breath, she walked in. Link was busy in his room, that's what the maids had told her. Midna thanked them and traveled up the long spiraling staircase to reach her destination. When she got there, she hesitated to knock on the door because she saw her hand shaking. Why was her hand shaking? It had happened so many times already; that being that she had to say goodbye. She was used to it. And it really was for the best, so why was her hand shaking? She took a moment to regain her composure and then she knocked on the door.

"C…come in!" His voice called. She heard a lot of ruffling inside. When it stopped she entered. He was sitting at his desk and when he heard her come in, he looked at her. Link's face was flushed and he smiled sheepishly at her.

"Oh. Midna! What are you doing here?"

"Is it a bad time? I can come back later…"

"No, no, no! This is as good a time as any! Come on in. I was just… uh… wrapping up my speech." Midna felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. Link was such a terrible liar. But instead of asking what he was really up to, she opted for sitting in his lap and cuddling close to him. Link didn't object and instead he wrapped his arms around her possessively. She wondered if he would still hold her so close if he knew the truth about her. About who she was and about all the things she'd done.

"Link…"

"Hm?"

"… What do you think about me?" Link paused. Midna felt her heart race in her chest. Whatever he said was crucial because she would know what he really thought about her and would possibly have to shatter his beliefs by revealing the truth. For a few moments, neither spoke. Then Link said, "Well… I think you're kind of selfish. You don't mean to be but you are. And I think you're a lot more fragile than you let on. You're also scared of a lot of things that I'm not too sure about, but I think they must have something to do with your past. You're a good person, but you get caught up in some bad things. And you're sensitive." Midna felt herself let out the air that she unknowingly had been holding in as soon as he opened his mouth. He was right. But how had he known those things? She pushed away from him and studied the floor thoughtfully. He knew and yet he still…

"Why? Why do you…" Her voice couldn't get past the lump that was forming in her throat. Link studied her for a moment, before smiling softly.

"I love you because that's who you are. I couldn't say that unless I accepted everything about you. Including the bad." He knew what she was going to ask and she hadn't even asked it. Her chest felt heavy. She jumped up from his lap and started anxiously pacing the room. Link continued to watch her.

"You think you know all the bad about me Link, but there are a lot more terrible, terrible things that you have no idea about…"

"You can tell me about them whenever you're ready Midna. I'm sure even by me knowing, my feelings for you won't change."

"I'm sure they will Link. Even you won't be able to accept this about me… I can't even accept it about myself…"

"Try me." Midna stopped her pacing and she sadly looked at her boyfriend.

"Link. I just… I… Let's save ourselves the heart ache and just end it now. I think it's better that way…" Link smirked and rubbed a hand through his hair.

"I could've put those words right in your mouth," he said, "There's one more thing that I think about you and that is I think you're a coward. You're always running away from the things that have the potential to hurt you. Rather than facing those things, you run." Midna felt her cheeks warm and she hugged herself.

"Perhaps you're right… but… it's better that way…"

"No it isn't! Why can't you have some confidence in me!? I'm sure that whatever this dark secret of yours is, we can get past it together! Just trust me Midna. Please…" His eyes were pleading with her, but Midna just looked away. It was better.

"No Link. It's better this way for the both of us! Trust me when I tell you that… it's better this way…" The tears she'd been fighting back reigned victorious. She backed away and said, "Good-bye…" Before she could leave, Link was there holding her back.

"I won't let you go… I don't care about your past Midna. I just want a future with you."

"Wh… what?"

"I want to marry you… Midna…," He whispered huskily into her ear. Midna's heart began pounding against her chest like an inmate pulling on the bars of his jail cell. It was too much.

"Link. I don't think you understand… I'm not good for you. I'm not capable of becoming your wife! I don't want any of that! I don't deserve it!!" Pushing the distraught boy away from her, Midna opened his room door and fled. Link watched the spot that she was just in before sighing heavily and slumping back in his seat.

_Midna ran blindly through the school trying to make it to next period before the bell rang. The pain in her lungs was unbearable. That's what she got for pulling an all-nighter with her boyfriend and then waking early in the morning to avoid suspicion (even though everyone knew she was there). She was so focused on her goals that she didn't notice the person in front of her. The two collided and she fell to the ground, moaning in pain, from the force of the collision._

"_Ow… I'm so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going…" Her voice stopped when she saw Zelda's soft blue eyes looking at her curiously._

"_Princess… Zelda?" The blonde smiled beautifully and nodded._

"_And you must be Midna I presume. I've wanted to talk to you for a long time."_

Link stared at the ring. It was princess cut, with a ruby jewel incrusted in the center. The golden band was engraved with intricate designs that dated back to hundreds of years before he was born. His great, great grandmother had worn it, as had his great grandmother then his grandmother and his mother after her. The ring was an heirloom past from each queen to the next. Link had so desperately wanted Midna to be the next one to inherit it.

It had taken him a while before he was ready to fully understand the concept of spending the rest of his life with Midna. It wasn't that he couldn't imagine growing old with her by his side; it was more unbelievable in that it was too good to be true. Him and Midna together forever? It sounded like something from a storybook. And apparently, happy endings really did only exist in the stories. What had he done? Why was she running away this time? Link closed his fingers around the circular object in his hand and he gripped it tightly until his knuckles turned white. He was ready to spend a lifetime with her. She shouldn't be so quick to run from him. Where was her faith? Standing up from his slumped position, Link went to his room door with determination. He wasn't going to let her run. Not this time. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of his elder sister.

"Zelda? What are you doing here?"

"Link… You shouldn't go after that girl. What she said is the truth. It's for the best if you just forget about her."

"What? What are you talking about?" Zelda looked at her brother with a grave expression. It was so serious that it made Link gulp involuntarily.

"Link. Just how much do you really know about that girl? About her past?" His sister's tone was fierce to match her expression. Link looked at his feet. He was still gripping the ring. Where was this coming from all of a sudden? Wasn't Zelda the one who was cheering on their relationship? Why then was she suddenly against the idea? And just what did Midna's past have to do with anything?

"I… I don't know anything about her past. But… she is… To me she is my future. Whatever she's done I'm sure we can get past it together!" He met his sister's eyes again, glaring at her with his own beastlike ferocity. Zelda stepped back impulsively but she continued to hold her ground.

"Link… I won't allow this. I'll find you another suitable wife. Just let this one alone. I'm serious Link! It's a bad idea and…"

"You can't make decisions for me anymore Zelda. I'm the future king and I want to spend the rest of my life with her! You can't change my mind. I've decided." Hearing the finalization in Link's voice, and seeing the resolve in his eyes, Zelda sighed in defeat and side stepped out of his way. Link watched her curiously with a cocked brow.

"Then… you'd better go after her Link. If you're this determined to make it work then you better stop her before she boards the last ship to Holodrum."

"Holodrum?? What?? Why??"

"Sorry little brother. I thought I was keeping you safe… I didn't think you were so serious about her…"

"Zelda… Zelda what did you do??"

"There's no time for that! If you don't go right now then it just might be too late!" Without another word, Link stormed away. He was like a bolt of lightening as he rushed through the corridors to make his way to the docks before Midna boarded. Before Midna was no longer in his life.

"_You've been wanting to talk to me?"_

"_Yes and I'm sure you're aware of what about…" Zelda dusted her dress off coolly and Midna watched her with a chill on her spine. What? Did she know her secret? Midna gulped and picked up her school books. She plastered on a fake smile. No. That couldn't be it. _

"_Uh… I'm sorry? I'm not sure I get it…" Maybe she wanted to talk about Link?_

"_You don't have to pretend with me. I know that you're really the Twilight Princess." Midna's heart stopped and her blood flow cooled. Slowly she raised her eyes to look at Zelda's. They stared at one another for a long moment and time seemed to freeze. Midna began to tremble and Zelda looked at her with concern._

"_Are you alright?" _

"_N… no… How… how…"_

"_I asked around and I learned a few things about you. At first I just wanted to know who the girl was that my brother had fallen in love with; however, it turned out that I learned that the girl my brother had fallen in love with was also the girl whom I've been searching for." _

"_You've… been looking for me…?"_

"_Yes. Your majesty, I must tell you that you have to return to your own realm. Since you're the true ruler of the Twilight realm, I'm sure you can fix the mirror. It needs to be fixed because without it the balance between our worlds has been disrupted. If something isn't done, the two worlds will collide." Midna's mouth dropped in shock. Her eyes left Zelda's slowly and traveled to the two books that she had dropped on the ground. The shaking had gotten worse and her stomach had started hurting badly. Zelda knelt down beside her. She began to rub her back soothingly._

"_I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news or anything like that… That's those old guys' jobs. I just want you to be aware of the severity of the situation at hand. You do understand don't you?" Midna nodded slowly and Zelda's brows furrowed in concern._

"_Are you sure you're alright? It might be tough, but know that you have the full support of Hyrule. We'll even relocate the mirror from Gerudo lands so don't be afraid." Midna hung her head and nodded. She started crying then. Big, loud sobs escaped her lips and her wails wracked her body. Zelda's eyes widened in surprise and she leaned in closer to hug Midna._

"_What is it? Is it Link? Are you going to miss him? Don't worry… we'll think of something…"_

"_Don't… don't be so nice to me… not to me…," Midna whispered. She shook Zelda's comforting grip off her shoulder and abruptly turned the other direction leaving Zelda to watch her in confusion._

"_What? Why not?"_

"… _Don't you… find it strange that a shadow being like myself hasn't been harmed in this world's light?" Zelda stared at Midna and noticed for the first time that the girl was indeed unfazed by the sunlight. In fact, she was a solid person and not a shadow like people in her world would appear if they ever transcended the dimensional barriers that separated the two worlds. Midna looked at her then, her ruby eyes uncharacteristically cold and deadpan._

"_It's not what it seems Zelda. The relationship between the Twili and the Gerudo isn't what it seems. Together, we are Hyrule's downfall. That's why Ganondorf kidnapped you. That's why I'm with Link... That's why I can't go back."_

_"...Is this true?"_

_"Yes."_

_"... Then... I want you to leave Hyrule and never return. I'll spare you if you do that for me. Obviously there's no way you can return to the Twilight Realm the way you are now. I'll let you dwell here in the light as long as you leave Hyrule tonight. And forget about my brother. He could never love a cold heartless woman like you."_

Midna pulled the collar of her jacket higher to block the strong wind from nipping at her. She couldn't forget how the first meeting with the Princess of Hyrule had turned out the way that it had. After revealing her secrets to Zelda as well as her involvement in her kidnapping, Midna was lucky that Zelda let her go under the condition that she no longer spoke to Link or stayed within Hyrule's borders. That's why she was waiting for a ship that was setting sail to the far away land of Holodrum. Perhaps she would like it there. Maybe life would be a little easier.

The thought of having to start over all again wasn't as liberating as she it had been when she arrived in Hyrule. But that was only because the thing that had made starting over worth it was no longer going to be with her. Tears streamed from her eyes. No matter how hard she tried not to think about him, Link kept popping up in her mind. His desperate voice when he proposed to her also haunted her senses. She could still feel his lips against her ear. Unconsciously, she touched said ear and looked thoughtfully out at the ocean. The otherwise smooth surface of the emerald water was disrupted by the undulation of the crashing waves. She watched as they hit the sand on the shore and then return to the vast nothingness. She wished she had somewhere to return to. She wished all the waves in her life hadn't been so destructive, but more calm like the ones she was seeing. She wished that she could see Link again.

Truth be told, she didn't have to go to say good-bye to Link. In fact, it would have a lot better if she hadn't gone to see him because if she hadn't gone to see him then she wouldn't keep thinking about the future she'd forfeited by refusing his hand in marriage. It hurt so bad. She just wanted to make sure he had some idea of who she was before he heard the truth from Zelda because that girl was with no doubt going to reveal the truth to him. Midna just wanted to make sure that he remembered her well, but he un-expectantly knew her true self all too well and accepted it. Midna brought an arm up to stop the snot from flowing into her mouth along with her tears. She bit her sleeve to silence her pained sobs.

Her heart felt like it was going to implode. Just what was it that she was doing? The boy loved her, deeply. He could forget about her past. And by being with him, she could forget about her past and finally move forward with the man she loved. But why wouldn't she? Fear? Was she truly that big of a coward to even let her happiness go in order to live a simple easy life? Was she doing what was better for the both of them or what was easy for her? Before she had more time to ponder it, someone had wrapped his arms around her. Familiar warmth filled the distraught girl and she started crying harder. Link pulled her closer and held her tighter. For a moment, neither spoke and both of them reveled in the other's warmth.

"Midna… Where are you going?" Midna sighed and relaxed in his arms.

"I don't really know…," she answered truthfully, "Because this is the only place I want to be." Link nuzzled her neck lovingly before whispering, "Then why don't you marry me?" Midna gulped and turned around to face him properly. His face was marked with sincere inquisition and Midna doubted that Zelda revealed the truth like she thought she would. Maybe she was leaving that up to her. Gently, she took Link's hands into her own and guided him to a nearby bench where they sat.

"…Link… I really can't marry you… And it's not because I don't want to… It's because there's no way you'll want to marry me after what I tell you," she paused to let the depth of her words sink in before continuing, "I know that I've kept the secret of my past to myself for nearly a year and a half now, but I'll tell you. Link… I'm not from Hyrule. I… I'm not even originally from this dimension. I… I'm the ruler of the Twilight Realm. I'm the Twilight Princess."

"I met Ganondorf almost two years ago. I fell in love with him and for a while I thought he was in love with me too. It turned out however that he just wanted to take control of the Twilight Realm. He betrayed me and put my head magician on the throne. The bad thing about it is that I could have prevented it. I could have saved my people from the tyrant if only I had stood up to him. But… but… I ran away… I was so hurt about what Ganondorf had done that I didn't want anything to do with him, which included saving my people. I decided that I wanted to get away from it all and so… I came here after I broke the mirror to twilight. In breaking the mirror, I… I gave up my right as ruler and thus became a being in the world of light. I don't think I'll ever be able to see my home again not that my people would want to see me. I was such a foolish girl and a pitiful leader…"

"After I came here, I began to live a reckless life. Hooking up with guy after guy. I think I was trying to fill the void that Ganondorf left… but… but I only made it worse…. And then… then I met you. I didn't know you were the prince at first but… Ganondorf ended up finding me and he told me the truth about your identity. I hated you after I found out. Part of it was because I despised the Hyrulean Royal Family and the other part was because I wanted to be needed by Ganondorf again and he was only interested in you. I thought that as long as I did what he asked he would love me again. So together we schemed to get Hyrule's throne. He was going to kidnap and kill Zelda and I was going seduce you and become your wife so that I could eventually kill you and take the throne. Everything was going according to plan but then I… I… accidentally fell in love with you... I wanted to tell you so many times! But I couldn't. I kept running from it and the guilt nearly killed me. But Link, know that my love for you is sincere." Midna stopped talking and waited. She refused to look at the boy beside her. From his rigid stance, she guessed that he wasn't happy. Not at all. Without warning, Link stood and he walked over to a railing. The sun had begun to set and twilight had fallen. It left Midna feeling empty and numb.

"Is this… true? Am I really to believe this?" Link asked after a while. Midna nodded and tears started falling again.

"Yes it's all true. Every word of it." Silence. Midna couldn't stand it. She stood and grabbed the little knapsack that carried her belongings. She looked at Link's haunched back and inhaled a deep breath.

"You must hate me now. You must despise the very ground I walk on!" She cried. Link didn't answer. He just kept looking out at the ocean. Feeling dejected, Midna said, "… I understand. That's why I'm leaving here." Without saying another word, Midna turned around and headed towards the ship. With every step she took, she felt her heart harden. Her eyes hurt from all the salt buildup from her tears and she wiped at them angrily. She had no right to cry. Not after all she'd done.

"… Do you love me?" Midna stopped abruptly and slowly she turned to look at Link. He was facing her now, and his expression looked… desperate? Unsure if she heard him right, the girl asked, "What?"

"Do you love me?" Link repeated with a sterner tone. The desperation on his face had hardened into determination and Midna nodded slowly.

"… Yes. I really do. With my whole heart and soul!"

"Then I can forgive you," he said simply. A smile filled his face and Midna looked at him dumbly, unsure if her hearing was correct.

"What!? Are you serious?? You can't have gotten over it that fast!" She proclaimed. Link waved off her comment lazily before rubbing the back of his head in exasperation.

"No. I haven't. I haven't even gotten over the shock yet, but… when I saw you walk away… I couldn't imagine life without you. I felt so lonely. So before the reality of all you said actually hits me, I want to forgive you so you can stay in my life."

"Link… Are… are you sure?"

"Yes. If you love me, truly love me the way you claim, I can forget all of your dark past. We can start anew together. Just the two of us. You and me." Link had made his way over to her. Midna looked at him uncertainly as he took her left hand and knelt down in front of her.

"Marry me. Please spend the rest of your life at my side." He placed the ring that had blessed generations of his family with long, happy marriages on her ring finger and held her hand tightly as he waited for her response. Midna's cheeks were flushed and a smile filled her face.

"Link… Yes…"

"Yes?"

"Yes! Yes I will be your wife!"


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17: The Past isn't so far Behind**_

"Don't you think that that's a little…oh I dunno… eccentric?"

"What do you mean? What's wrong with it? I like the colors…"

"Of course you do! I say go for it! Anyway, it's your wedding Midna. Don't let Tetra try to spoil things!" Aryll glared warningly at her friend and Tetra gawked at her. When she saw the uncertainty on Midna's facial expression, she sweated for a way to reverse the situation.

"Aryll!" she cried defensively before returning her attention to Midna, "I was only sayin'! I wasn't trying to dissuade you or put you down or anything Midna. If that's what you want then go for it. I'm behind you one hundred percent!" After saying so, Midna's mood greatly improved. She smiled happily and seemed to be beaming with mirth. It was enough to make Tetra want to shield her eyes from the brilliance she was emitting.

"Thanks guys! I'm so happy to have friends like you!" She exclaimed while twirling around with the dress she was holding. It was a neon orange color and completed with an accenting hot pink sash that crossed from the shoulder over to the waist. It was indeed a little bright, and when matched with Midna's immense happiness, it was glaring. Tetra tried to keep her smile genuine but it became more strained by the minute the longer she thought about having to wear it at the wedding. She was more against it than she let on, but was powerless to do anything about it. Midna looked over the dress again before turning to the seamstress and saying, "I don't think I want this one… Got anything else?" The seamstress smiled and nodded, taking the ugly gown from Midna.

"I think I've got just the thing!" She cried and went to the cluster of gowns hanging in the shop to retrieve the perfect one for Midna. Tetra released a breath of relief, unaware that she'd been holding it in anxiously. She quickly covered her mouth when she realized her mistake and looked at Midna to see if she'd noticed. The red head only smiled mischievously and laughed.

"Did you really think I was going to do that to you guys? Oh my goddesses you should've seen your face Tetra!" She doubled over in laughter, leaving Aryll and Tetra to watch her in stunned silence for a moment. Then Tetra laughed and Aryll followed. All three girls were so caught up in their hysterics that they almost didn't notice the seamstress return with another gown. It dipped so low in the back that it looked backless while the front was cut low enough to show a modest amount of cleavage. The fabric twisted into an intricate design that flailed out as it neared the bottom. The gown was a burnt orange color but the color darkened near the bottom into a brilliant auburn that left the girls speechless when they saw it.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

"It's gorgeous…," Midna muttered. She barely touched the fabric with a finger, loving the way the silk felt, when her phone rang. The girl jumped in shock. For a moment she was struck dumb until she started searching her pockets frantically for it. She found it on the fourth ring and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Anju! I was just calling to let you know that I picked out the perfect table setting. I'm on my way to the bridal shop now to see how you're faring. Any luck so far?"

"Oh my goddesses yes! I just found the absolute perfect dress for my bridesmaids! Hurry Anju you have really got to see it!"

"Yes, yes. I'm nearly there. But don't spend too much time trying to make the bridesmaids look good. As soon as I get there we're going to find the wedding dress that will put them all to shame and let everyone know just whose special day it is."

"Uh huh. Okay then. I'll see you in a bit." She hung up the phone and looked at her friends.

"Anju is on her way. She said she picked out the table setting and now she's gonna help me pick out a dress."

"Oh good. It must be nice having a wedding planner. Now the work is cut in half," Aryll said as she looked at the dress critically.

"Yeah… but I kinda wanted it to be just me and my friends planning it. Wedding preparations are massive undertakings though, especially if you have no idea what you're doing," Midna said with a little shake of her head, "I'm lucky that Zelda hired Anju… Poor Link isn't doing any better than I am. The plans for his coronation are just as arduous and he has an entire team working on it."

"Dang. Tiresome," Tetra claimed.

"Yeah. But it'll all be worth it," Aryll added. Midna smiled and nodded.

"Yeah… you're right…"

"Should I get one more so that they can try them on?" The seamstress interrupted. Midna nodded and off she went to retrieve another one. When she returned, both Tetra and Aryll went to the changing rooms, leaving Midna alone to muse over everything.

It seemed like a dream, a very good dream that she never wanted to wake up from despite all the work and effort that was being put in it. Only it wasn't a dream. Link had really asked her to marry him. She was really going to be his wife. After he had proposed for the second time and she had finally accepted, the news of their engagement was everywhere. And before she knew it, the girl was caught in a whirlwind of craziness in the two months that followed. It was Hyrulean tradition to hold the wedding one week after the coronation, so Midna was up to her neck in wedding preparations. Their graduation was a week away. Link's coronation was a couple of days after that and then came the wedding. Midna thought that the old ways of doing things went at jet-like speed. Maybe it was because Hyrule had always been tormented with hardships so it was always in a rush to make sure that an able monarchy was always on the throne to ensure Hyrule's future. But were the old ways sufficient enough now? Maybe they were rushing things. After all, they were guaranteed longer lives now, they could have healthy children, and they were only teenagers for Pete's sake!

Cold feet. That's what was making her think this way. She didn't need to worry. She was marrying the one guy who knew her best and loved her unconditionally. Things were perfect. What else could she possibly have to worry about?

"I better get him a good gift for his coronation…" she mumbled out loud. Just then, her friends returned and Anju walked through the front door. It was time to put her thoughts aside and focus on business.

----

"You know, I've always wanted a sister," Zelda proclaimed. After Midna finished picking out the dresses, she left the rest of the dirty work to Anju while she helped Zelda prepare a guest list. The former Twilight Princess smiled but her eyebrows furrowed with uncertainty at Zelda's comment.

"Oh really? Well… I'm sorry if I'm not exactly what you have in mind." To this, Zelda laughed.

"Don't be silly! If my brother picked you as his wife then you must a wonderful person… that's what I believe," the blonde said in a soft voice, "I want to see the good in you too Midna. I'm sorry that I was so quick to judge you, but I have to wonder if this is really what's best." Midna stopped stamping envelopes with the royal crest and looked at Zelda. The two said nothing for a few minutes and then Midna smiled.

"I think it is. After all, Link says we shouldn't look to the past anymore. We should only concern ourselves with the future."

"… I guess he's right about that… Gee, when did my little brother get to be so smart? I bet it's thanks in part to you of course. You've changed him a lot."

"I hope for the best and not for the worst!" The two laughed then. Midna was surprised that things could be so candid and peaceful between them given their first meeting. Not that she was complaining or anything, after all it was a nice change of pace, but she was surprised how drastically things could change. Maybe she could bury her past and become a different person too.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Zelda said as she finished scribing a letter. The door opened to reveal Ashei.

"Your highness, there are quests here, yeah? They are ambassadors from Holodrum," she announced. Zelda sighed deeply and said, "Well, have Link meet with them. I'm busy."

"Yes your highness." Within a moment the door closed once more and Ashei's retreating footsteps could be heard.

"Are you sure you want to leave Link to do it?" Midna questioned. Zelda simply smiled and continued her work.

"He's not a child anymore and in a few more weeks he's going to be King. I think he can handle it. Besides, I'm tired of being the one to take care of all the politics!"

A week flew by and it was graduation. It was filled with teary farewells and promises to keep in touch between friends and afterwards their was a party. Midna and Link shared one last night of being teenagers with their friends before having to assume their duties. Even during this particular emotional part of her life, Midna was preoccupied with an auspicious feeling that swirled around in her stomach. She disregarded it as being anxiety and thought no more about it, but after another week rolled by and it was closer to Link's coronation, the feeling grew stronger.

Midna was in Tetra's room along with Aryll pondering what the feeling could be when her thoughts were interrupted.

"Do you think Link will like this?" Tetra asked. Midna looked at her friend quizzically.

"What did you get him a present for?"

"Midna don't tell me that you forgot your fiancé's birthday! It's the same day as his coronation right?" Aryll stated. Midna gasped and pulled at her hair that had grown to the nape of her neck.

"I completely forgot to get him a present! It's in three days!

"Whoooo! What are you gonna do now?" Tetra teased.

"I'll stop by the store on the way home I guess… I can't believe that I forgot!"

"I bet it's from all the stress you're under. Don't worry. You should take some time to relax," Aryll suggested. Midna nodded her head in agreement.

"I think you're right." After they were done visiting, Midna left. Before she walked home, she made a detour to the emporium. As she walked, the hairs on her back rose and she heard footfalls from someone behind her that were timed with her own. Was she being followed? She quickened her pace and the person quickened their pace as well. After awhile, Midna started flat out running, but the person pursuing her wasn't giving up. In a matter of minutes they had caught up to the girl and before she could scream for help, blackness engulfed her.

When she awoke, she was in an unfamiliar room. Her head was pounding against her skull and she moaned.

"Glad to see you awake my dear…," a cold voice said. She knew that voice. Looking up to see her captor, she saw that it was Ganondorf.

"Ganondorf! What are you doing here??"

"No, no my sweet. The correct question is what are you doing here? And here's the answer," the man said. He moved out of her view and she noticed that she was sitting on what appeared to be a throne that was placed on a balcony. When she looked down, instead of seeing wide open spaces, she saw an army composed of Gerudo and Twili alike that stretched on for miles. She gasped.

"What is this?"

"This is the army that I have put together to attack Hyrule. I finally found a gate that would allow the Twili to traverse to this world without becoming shadows."

"No…"

"I suppose this great opportunity has only been granted to me thanks to you my dear. You have done well and now I do believe it is time for us to take what is rightfully ours and then we can rule together, side by side…" Without warning, Ganondorf grabbed her by the chin and pulled her face close to his own.

"We will finally be together soon my sweet," he cooed. When he brought his face closer for a kiss, Midna spat on him. He released her and yelled in anger.

"I won't let you do this! And I will never EVER be with you again! You demented freak! I love Link and will always!" She cried. For a moment, there was a tense silence. Ganondorf eyed her and began to laugh manically. Midna took a step back, fearful of what he might do to her. Finally, his laughing subsided and he looked at her.

"Oh? Can this be true? Has my little princess really fallen in love with the heir to Hyrule's throne? Hehhehheh… It's laughable! And _appalling_! What makes you think that you are fit to dwell here in the World of Light?? What makes you think that you are worthy to be welcomed here in Hyrule with opened arms when you have damned your people by abandoning them? Who are you to be able to _love_ anyone!" He spat. He caught her by the throat before she had time to leave and she hacked. He squeezed.

"You won't have your happy ending my dear. You'll rot in hell with the knowledge that Hyrule's downfall was all your fault." Tossing her aside like a rag doll, Ganondorf called on a minon to come and take Midna to the dungeon. The girl struggled against her oppressor but to no avail.

"Link!!" She cried.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18: Fight or Flight**_

"Link! Link you must come out!"

"Go _away_ Zelda!"

"Link, be reasonable. You are the future King of Hyrule whether you like it or not. You can't change anything by being irreverent," the woman stated with a stern voice. Zelda waited patiently for her brother's retort that she knew was bound to come, but when she heard nothing she decided it was high time to remove the obstacle that separated the two. She coercively opened the door and saw Link dressed in his royal garments, which were similar to a soldier's uniform but spiced up with badges and crests (symbols of the royal family). A golden phoenix whose wings were opened wide as though it was basking in the glory of the Triforce above its beak was embroidered onto his back that was facing Zelda. The princess gasped at the splendor of his attire. He was every bit the soon-to-be King of Hyrule.

Upon hearing his sister enter his room, Link slowly turned and revealed his beastlike eyes. The ferocity emitting from them resembled all his harried emotions about the current state of things. Midna had been missing for multiple days now and no one knew where she was or could be. The last people to see her were Tetra and Aryll and they said that she had left Tetra's home to go buy Link a present. Afterwards the Twili disappeared off the face of the planet. That was three days ago. People speculated that the Midna's disappearance was based on cold feet but Link knew better. She had stopped running from her past and fears in order to live with a future along his side. But what could have happened to her? The thought was driving him crazy and the more he thought about it, the less willing he became to go through with the coronation a few hours away. Link knew something terrible had happened. His sister made sure to have her personal secret service agents look for the missing girl to appease Link's worry, but nothing would appease him except for Midna's safe return. Besides the fact that his fiancé was gone upsetting him, there was also the fact that she wouldn't be present at his coronation. She wasn't going to be around to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. He needed her to be with him.

"Link… I understand that you're worried but I assure you that everything that can be done is being done. Midna will be found. I promise you," Zelda said softly. Link glared at her.

"It's not enough! Obviously everything isn't being done otherwise she would be found by now," he shouted, "I hope you didn't have anything to do with her disappearance…"

"Link! How could you accuse me of such things?"

"It wouldn't be the first time…"

"… That hurts Link. I know you're extremely upset but you shouldn't take it out on me. I'm only trying to help," Zelda murmured. She turned around to leave but stopped to say, "You aren't the only one who's worried about her. She's important to a lot of people" and then she left. Link began to reach out to his sister before she closed the door behind herself, having realized his mistake, but he stopped. There was nothing more that could be said. He knew that she was just as worried as he was and she was doing her best. And she knew that her brother was emotional over Midna's disappearance. Sighing, Link rubbed a hand through his combed hair and odd strands began poking up after having come loose from their confines. What was he going to do?

Suddenly a dart came flying through his window, shattering the glass. It barely missed his head and was stopped in its wayward path when it collided into the wall. Link incredulously looked at it for a moment before going to inspect it further. He noticed that there was a piece of paper wrapped around it. Taking the dart and paper into his hand, Link unwrapped it and began to read the message that was written there:

_If you want to see her again, you'll meet me in the clock tower. Alone._

Link didn't recognize the writing, and somehow it didn't register to him that he should be skeptical of what the note said on account of that fact. The only thing that he had come to understand from the ominous note was that Midna was in trouble. Without equivocation, he was already out the door, forgetting about his birthday and coronation, to pursue the only lead to his fiancé.

The motivated soon-to-be king snuck out of the castle that was swarming with people who were there to welcome their new king and to celebrate his day of birth. Link felt slightly guilty for leaving them to fret and wonder about his disappearance but the compunction was easily dismissed the more he thought about the perils that Midna could be in.

The Clock Tower was thirty minutes away by foot, but Link cut the time in half as he ran the whole way and without any traffic due the special occasion of the day nothing hindered him. Upon entering the tower, Link's guard went up. He'd managed to push his frantic worry aside enough to put a plan together. Hopefully, the perpetrator had come alone just as he had.

When Link reached the top he saw no sign of Midna or the mysterious author. Frustration took ahold of him and he groaned in his throat.

"So this is the man she chose? Pathetic!" Quickly turning around, Link's eyes widened when he was met with the King of the Desert. Rage boiled within him. How could he not have known? He was angry at himself for not realizing just what a threat Ganondorf but angrier that he had done something to Midna.

"Where is she?" Link ground out dangerously. Ganondorf, seemingly nonplussed by Link's murderous tone, simply started laughing.

"Heh! In hell where she belongs."

"If you've hurt her-"

"What? What are you going to do little Prince," the demented King taunted, "Heheheheheh! I haven't… yet. I have a proposition for you." Link was already tired of his games but continued to play along, hoping that he could stall a little time until Midna was returned safely.

"What are your terms?"

"In exchange for Midna, give me your throne. I promise to return her unscathed if you give me Hyrule."

"Hyrule? For her?" Somehow, Link was not surprised that it come to this. He didn't think that Ganondorf would have the gall to come right out and ask for it though. He didn't think that Ganondorf would be much of a threat after a little appeasement. He was the ruler of a small country that sat on the border of a greater sovereignty. He had to be a fool to start all this trouble especially after a long hard peace had been obtained between the two powers. Ganondorf, the power hunger monster that he was, licked his lips and laughed.

"Or is she even worth that much?" He spat out amidst his devilish cackles. Link clenched his fist and meant to end all the nonsense right now with one strong right hook to Ganondorf's jaw but before he could make a move, someone had taken it upon themself to hit the unsuspecting prince in the back of the head. He felt a burst of pan explode from the offended spot. He fell to his knees involuntarily and saw stars. Before he blacked out completely, Ganondorf stood above him. His face was devoid of emotion as he said, "Because if not, I will just have to take it from you by force. My army is coming. Then all you know will soon be over!"

Drip… drip… drip…

There was a faucet on somewhere. The harmonic fall of the water aroused the slumbering boy. It was a moment or two before he realized that he was sleeping on cold stone flooring and that it was down the sound of a dripping faucet, but that of water filtering into what appeared to be a dungeon. He groaned and sat up. The movement sent sparks of pain throughout his body and especially his head where he felt a large whelp had formed.

"This has not been a very good day," he mumbled to know one in particular. If it hadn't been for the dull lighting, he might have noticed that another individual occupied a cell across from him.

"Link! Link is that you?" Upon hearing the familiar intonation and one-of-a-kind accent, Link's heart sped up and he couldn't fight the large smile that erupted on his face. He peered out past the bars that held him captive to see Midna smiling back at him.

"Midna," Link answered, "Are you alright? He hasn't done anything to you has he?" The teen shook her head.

"No… no I'm fine," she offered. Link felt a huge weight lift off of his shoulders and he sighed a deep sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad," he said, "I've missed you. I was so worried!" Midna's smile grew smaller and she broke her eye contact because she was too ashamed to face him.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry for a lot of things. After all, this is all my fault."

"No it isn't! This is Ganondorf's doing! He's the one at fault! Not you!" Link proclaimed. Midna looked to him and noticed a fierceness in his eyes. She wouldn't argue with him. But she did still feel responsible for their predicament.

"Link…What are we going to do now?" At this Link sat and thought which was something he'd neglected to do throughout this whole charade. He knew his sister was on high alert after having been kidnapped by the mad king. Hopefully she was perceptive enough to make some type of militaristic move despite Link's foolish plea not to. And if not, Link and Midna had to get out to spread the word.

"Hopefully Zelda has caught wind of Ganondof's surprise attack and is getting things prepared… As for us, we've got to find a way out of here."

"Tch! Yeah. Easier said than done." Link smirked.

"Not quite." Before Midna could argue with him further, Link had managed to somehow dismantle the wall of his cell.

"Whaaaat?" The girl exclaimed. Link smiled coyly.

"Dungeons are always full of nooks and crannies because they're usually underground where water leaks and erodes away the stone," he told matter-of-factly. Midna scoffed at him.

"Yeah. It was cool enough for you to have known our secret getaway was there, you didn't have to ruin it with your nerdy explanation about why it was there."

"Owch! Well if that's the way you feel about it then I guess I'll just leave," he told. He proceeded to crawl through the space that he'd created and disappeared into the wall. Midna waited for him to resurface, but when he didn't, she began to feel panicky. She'd been hauled up long enough without some type of human interaction and the solitude had taken an affect on her mental state.

"L… Link!" She cried out. She heard the wall beside her begin to fall apart and she looked only to see Link smiling smugly at her.

"What? You didn't actually think I'd leave you did you? Tsk, tsk. So little faith," he told with mock pain. Midna hugged him and held on as though to make sure he really hadn't gone anywhere. He embraced her tightly, happy that she was indeed in one piece.

"Okay. Come on. Be very quiet okay?" Link commanded as he then guided them through the dungeon.

"Well duh. I'm not an idiot!" Midna proclaimed boisterously. Link rolled his eyes and her voice bounced off the walls of their prison.

"Clearly."

Back in Hyrule

Zelda stood at her window, watching her subjects as they milled about in confusion. By now everyone was aware of both Link and Midna's disappearances. An auspicious feeling welled in the pit of her stomach. She didn't need the dozens of advisors who had seemed to be hassling her on the problematic turn of events to know that something bad was happening. She knew who was behind it.

A strange rumbling sound in the distance caught her attention and the girl turned her attention to the horizon. There she saw a mass quickly approaching. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Ganondorf was riding on a magnificent steed and directing his army of fifty thousand towards Castle Town to take what he believed to be rightfully his. His army consisted of Twili and Gerudo alike.

To counteract the oncoming onslaught, Zelda began to mobilize her people into action. She ordered people to get the civilians to safety and began to organize an impromptu militia.

"There's no time for us to gather an army that fast!" An advisor said.

"What are we going to do Princess?" Another cried.

"… The only thing we can do, warn the citizens and gather enough men to do battle. We must protect Castle Town at all costs!

A/N: I have been out of commission, obviously. But I felt bad not finishing this story so I am going to complete it. The last two chapters will be up hopefully within the next two weeks or so (not 3 years). Thanks for reading. Adios until next time!


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